Discussion on Intolerance and Free Speech

That is what you might call the new intolerance, a new but

intense desire to gag uncomfortable voices of

dissent. "I am not intolerant," say many people,

say many softly spoken, highly educated, liberal-minded

people. "I'm only intolerant of intolerance."

And people tend to nod sagely and say, "Oh, yes, wise words, wise words." And yet

if you think about this supposedly inarguable statement for longer than five

seconds, you realize that all it is advocating is the replacement of

one kind of intolerance with another, which to me doesn't

represent any kind of progress at all.

Underlying prejudices, injustices, or resentments are not

addressed by arresting people. They are addressed

by the issues being aired, argued, and dealt with, preferably

outside the legal process.