Freedom of Speech

I usually don't get too political or comment on too many current events as that is not the reason I started doing this, and I know that everyone has an opinion and they might not match mine, I am even aware that I could be wrong!  Seriously - it could happen!  However, once I say that - you know I am going to violate the rule yes?

I ran across this post from veronicapartridge.com not too long ago on facebook - someone I know had shared it, and after I read it I was impressed with this woman's thought process and attitude, and I thought it was well written.  In a nutshell she was convicted that wearing yoga pants as pants was not modest and her faith required her to change her ways.  At the top of her blog post she had written that she was not advocating for others just sharing her own personal decision.  Within days she is the center of a firestorm of controversy and has even been on morning TV shows because she made a personal decision...and then shared it.

I have friends who are LDS, Catholic, Mennonite, Baptist, Methodist etc.  We all believe in modesty and follow that belief a little differently from each other.  I am at that age where folks would rather I was modest!  I admit there is something unsettling about that older woman with the crepe paper chest showing her cleavage!  But she can - and I say nothing.  I have recently gone from attending a church where most of the women wear slacks to one where most of the women wear dresses (I grew up with this) and I am comfortable both ways. When we go to the kids church there are shorts and flip flops and jeans and loud music and lots of wonderful people and I enjoy it immensely. (a couple of times a year)  This is not about this woman's choice of outerwear!!  It is about all those who think she is wrong and must tell her so!  All those who think she gave her opinion and is telling them what to do!  Maybe a few who felt guilty?
 
All of us here in the 'blogiverse' have a group who read our posts, family friends and anyone we can convince.  :)  Those who follow us are generally those who agree or have something in common with us.  Occasionally I hit the little 'next blog' arrow and see what is there, if I don't like it I move on!  When did not agreeing with me become a reason to bully you?  If you don't agree with me you are welcome to leave a comment but be respectful, disagree and move on. 

There is a lot of talk about 'Freedom of Speech' lately, the terrorists and Charlie Hebdo in France, and a lot of folks are saying that the magazine brought it on themselves for printing something that offends someone else.  It is an easy thing to think, I admit that I sort of think if your gonna do something you should be prepared to pay the consequences!  I'll stand by that, there are always consequences, but not death for a

cartoon that is offensive, because someone might decide that your blog post was offensive, your song, your dress, your yoga pants!  The beautiful speech doesn't need protecting, it is the ugly, the harsh, the unpleasant speech that needs to be protected.  Lovely speech or the speech of those who agree with us is very safe isn't it?  It is the speech of those who challenge long held beliefs, of those who differ politically, of those who speak in a manner I find unsettling that needs to be protected.  There was a time when speaking ill of the church could be fatal, when cursing the King could get you sent to South Carolina or Botany Bay!  There was a time when wearing bright colors got you kicked out of the puritan colony, when speaking out against slavery or the treatment of indigenous peoples would get you in trouble.  That is the speech that needs to be protected.  I may not change my mind and I can and will turn off the radio station playing that song I dislike the lyrics to, but it has a right to be there...because pendulums swing, and I want to be protected when my speech is offensive to someone.

So if you don't agree, don't like it, despise the opinion.....just go on, move along, go away, don't subject yourself to another minute of it! How in the world did we get to the point that we have to call terrorism 'workplace violence' but crawl all over someone who disagrees with us.  We have to be careful how we depict someones prophet and yet we have teenagers committing suicide because they are bullied on facebook for no reason.  It makes me sad, we have lost the ability or the desire to be polite to each other, our world leaders even get involved in this rudeness mania. 

I have no solution, I can only affect my corner of the world - and I will try to be polite in response to irritation, pleasant to someone who seems harried and smile at everyone I can.  I will try to remember that the world does not revolve around me, and that others have the right to differ. 

Ok I'm done Ranting, you are free to disagree if you like....politely please!