Distinguishing Freedom and Ability

I have always preferred our classic statements of rights, such as the bill of rights, to such statements as Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms.” What interests me is that while our classic statements of rights indicate things that the government is not permitted to prevent you from doing, the latter two freedoms from Roosevelt’s list, and [...]

Tolerance: A Value, Not an Absolute

In watching some of the material on Dr. Jeremiah Wright today, I’m reminded of the potential problem of tolerance–getting it above its proper rank as a value. I have been confronted numerous times in face to face discussions with the statement that I cannot be truly tolerant, because to be tolerant, I must tolerate [...]

Freedom from (not of) Expression

Ed Brayton notes that the UN Human Rights Council has endorsed an anti-religious speech code proposed by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. I could write about this with the anger and disgust I feel, but Ed already said it so well:

Now I am one of those people who is careful to [...]

Ezra Levant and Cartoon Publication

I was planning to write something on this, because I believe this kind of censorship is an egregious violation of human rights, but it appears the man himself can tell his own story just fine. (HT: Pursuing Holiness.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzVJTHIvqw8.

Just so.

[...]

15 Days for Insulting Mohammed Not Enough for Some

A British teacher was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation (which should be a blessing!) for insulting Mohammed. You can read the story here.

Yet this outrage is not sufficient to satisfy some Muslim hardliners. There were protests in Khartoum calling for her execution. The teacher, Gillian Gibbons, has said she doesn’t [...]

Against Personal Freedom on the Left

Ed Brayton reports on a victory for FIRE against the University of Delaware, which had a diversity training seminar that was mandatory for all students. It was followed up by big brother style watch-dogging.

Just in case some of us might get the idea that it is only right-wing ideologues who would like to [...]

Like Us or Die

Here’s another case: Leader offers $100,000 for cartoonist’s death.

The head of an al-Qaida-led group in Iraq offered $100,000 for the killing of Swedish cartoonist [tag]Lars Vilks[/tag] over his drawing depicting the Prophet Mohammad.

I’ll say again what I have said before. Blasphemy should not be illegal. I believe in [tag]free speech[/tag] [...]

The FBI, Haiku, and Christine’s Garden

I like this response to a recent court decision regarding the so-called Patriot Act. Hey Christine–people who read, and even worse write Haiku are extremely dangerous. Didn’t you know that? And those peonies for your garden? Indeed there ought to be a law!

Pivar Suit Against PZ Myers Withdrawn

According to Ed Brayton (Dispatches from the Culture Wars), the suit has been withdrawn. Brayton also makes a number of remarks on this that are totally on point. I agree with him completely as to the nature of the suit and the characters involved.

My previous comments were here. PZ’s very own commentary is [...]

WordPress.com Banned in Turkey

It appears that WordPress.com has been banned in Turkey because of criticisms of Muslim creationist Adnan Oktar. Oktar appears to be an unusually warped version of creationist, and may well be using creationism to foster Muslim fundamentalism.

The reason I’m linking to this is that it is a free speech issue. As a number [...]