The Distraction in the Free Speech Wars
If you didn’t know, colleges and universities have become a battle ground for this tricky thing called free speech. I work in higher education and am constantly bombarded with news stories from one side of the front or the other. You hear of some person or group who is either protected for the inflammatory things they say or do (thus angering/emboldening the political/ideological left or right, depending on whose side the person or group seems to fall) or they are fired/expelled/punished, which either helps or hinders the mission of either side. One of the most recent uproars came as a tenured professor took to Twitter in an hours-long rant hailing the recent passing of First Lady Barbara Bush. The furor it caused was huge, both by those appalled by her comments and those who defended her right to say what she said (or tweeted).
I empathize those who are hurt by the offensive things faculty, administrators, and students say and do that truly impede on the emotional, psychological, and even physical spaces we as human being set up for ourselves, having been the target of obscene language and the victim of a hate crime. I also understand the anxiety and worry of those who are truly concerned with how changing social climates might intrude on that sacred First Amendment. But my concern is for how the resulting uproar and commentary seem to only be fuel to an ever-growing fire of divisiveness along political/ideological lines, each side trying to convince the reader/listener/viewer that the event only confirms their particular view of the ‘other side’ and the world in general. “All speech that offends or hurts those from diverse backgrounds should be banned in the name of diversity and inclusion, because we want people to feel safe and welcomed.” “We should protect all speech, even something considered hateful, prejudiced or offensive, because if we start censuring based on how people feel than anything that offends could be considered hate speech.” Both of those sentiments have their merits and pitfalls.
But as a believer, I wonder if they should be my first thoughts when something like this happens, or what they should be.
When I first read about the professor who was ripping into Barbara Bush and the uproar it caused, I was so sad – not at her offensive remarks or that she chose to make perhaps valid (perhaps not) points in such an inflammatory, clearly insensitive way. I was sad because I saw a woman who, in the face of the death of another human being, was so visceral in her reaction that she didn’t care that someone had just died or that the family was mourning – she was thrilled to bits and was going to be sure the whole world knew it. And while the media was busy vilifying her or protecting her, I was wondering what it was like to be so broken at heart as to gloat over the death of someone created in God’s likeness.
That’s when it hit me: I had been missing something in this free speech war. Usually when these news stories came up, I would get offended or roll my eyes, grumble about the state of the world, and move on with my work. This is the first time I stopped and thought seriously about the person causing the news story. I had missed that, at the center of these fights about protected speech and hate speech, there were real people speaking. People God had created in his image, that he sent his Son to die for, who he wanted to reconcile to himself with truth and love. People that I had been ignoring because I was caught up in which side of the fight I was interested in.
I recently read a blog post by Jasmine Holmes on the issues of believers taking sides in the wake of police shootings of blacks, particularly after the case of Philando Castilles. She notes that so often we’re ready to take up the standard of the side we most align with without a willingness to see the complexities of the issues, and that, as believers, we shouldn’t be so quick to take sides, if at all. “Our allegiance is to Christ,” she writes, and that hit home for me. If my allegiance is to Christ, what did he believe in when it came down to picking sides? In the gospels, Christ was surrounded by people who wanted him to pick a side – are you for Jerusalem or for Rome? Are you for the lay people or the strict law keepers? Jews or Gentiles? But Christ wasn’t concerned with the battle lines people had dug for themselves – he was concerned with people’s hearts. He grieved over Jerusalem, not because the Romans were frustrating her people, but her people had turned away from their God. He was moved, not by those who kept the law, but by those who came in faith to repentance, sincerely wanting to be healed, both physically and spiritually.
Am I saying this to dismiss people’s very real pain and hurt at others’ words and actions? Absolutely not. I know all too well the hurt of someone’s offensive words simply because my skin color is darker than theirs, and those offenses should be confronted. But as a believer, I know my God didn’t call me to dwell in offense but to pray for those who offend me (Matt. 5:44; Romans 12:14). Am I saying free speech isn’t important? Not at all – it’s what allows me to write this blog, and I will continue to grapple with my stance on what should constitute free, protected speech. But I don’t want even my own views on the issue to distract me from the response God wants me to have towards people or the action I’m to take in these situations. To pray sincerely, not that they are swayed to whatever way of thinking I happen to stand by, but that they would experience the peace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. That’s not very newsworthy these days, but it is the truth of what will bring meaningful change to the hearts of people – it did for me.
I pray that I have such a heart of compassion, so that when the battlefield erupts around me, whether it’s free speech, civil rights or political elections, I’m compelled first and foremost to pray for the hearts of those involved, and my heart, too. Then, have that guide my actions as I work to affect meaningful change.
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