February 5,
2007
So Much for
Free Speech
Australia’s
state air carrier, Qantas, stopped a customer seeking to fly from
Melbourne to London, where he resides, because of a t-shirt that read
Bush - World’s #1Terrorist.
Allen
Jasson, a 55-year-old Australian technology expert, refused to change
the shirt when the carrier told him it was offensive and demanded that
he change it or be barred from boarding a London-bound plane.
Mr. Jasson
refused to switch, saying he was standing up for his free speech rights
and was thinking about legal action.
Qantas
issued a statement, quoted by Reuters, that remarks made verbally or on
a T-shirt with the potential to offend other passengers or threaten
aircraft security “will not be tolerated.”
The
airline, however, undercut its own argument by allowing Mr. Jasson to
travel on a flight within Australia while wearing the same disputed item
of apparel. The shirt apparently was not a problem on a domestic flight,
so why would it be one on an international route?
Does anyone
believe that a real terrorist intending to do harm would make any kind
of public display of a Bush critique? From all the reports I read about
the 9/11 terrorists’ activities in this country, they were taught and
did their best to blend in with the local populace, even to the point of
shaving their beards and not attending mosque regularly.
Since the
9/11 terrorist attacks, however, this type of arbitrary censorship is
happening with distressing frequency in nations that are presumably free
and democratic, including the United States. During the 2004 U.S.
election, people wearing anti-Bush t-shirts or displaying critical
bumper stickers on their cars were evicted from his stump speeches, some
being arrested.
Just before
Mr. Bush’s 2006 State of the Union speech, anti-war activist Cindy
Sheehan was arrested in the House of Representatives for wearing a
t-shirt that read: 2245 Dead. How many more? To be fair, the
spouse of a U.S. representative was also removed (although not arrested)
for a t-shirt that read: Support the Troops - Defending Our Freedom.
Capitol Police eventually apologized to both women and the charges
against Ms. Sheehan were dropped.
Many of us
might find the slogans emblazoned on a t-shirt or a bumper sticker
simplistic and often rude, but they are a form of shorthand for
expressing complex opinions and feelings in a compact space. They are
also a time-honored American tradition. George Washington used campaign
buttons in his presidential race.
Those who
wear a t-shirt with a political statement do the opposite of keeping a
low profile. They want to make their views known, no doubt in lieu of
taking violent action, which perhaps we don’t appreciate enough. Is
expressing a strong opinion to be forbidden now? If so, then we
certainly are not waging this so-called war against terrorism on behalf
of freedom, despite any claims to the contrary.
Speaking up
and speaking out is the very essence of true freedom that is based on a
profound spiritual right. The innate desire to express thoughts and
feelings freely is one of the characteristics of the souls that we are.
Our creator made us this way - gabby and opinionated. The spiritual
characteristic of free expression is what makes repression of speech so
intolerable no matter where or how it is exercised – precisely because
it violates one of our most fundamental rights as souls.
If we start
fearing the ideas framed in t-shirts, then the terrorists have won.
Slogans are not nearly as scary as those who presume to determine if,
when and where we can display them.
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