Freedom of Speech, the Canadian Myth

More and more in today's social climate it seems that civil discourse that relies on the freedom of speech and expression is becoming extinct. It is becoming increasingly apparent that if you do not agree with public opinion you are made to be silenced. ID advocates have run into this for years as the movie Expelled attempts to show, but now close to home the Homophobe registry in Quebec seems to move even farther in the censorship of this essential freedom.

Democracy can only function properly when all sides are given a voice, we are reduced to some sort of totalitarian fascism if all voices except the officially approved ones are silenced. Democracy ceases to function in a climate of censorship.

This registry would seem to contradict the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. On a more alarmist note, when voices are silenced, deeds are resorted to, if homophobia wants to be assured, Quebec has taken the proper steps in ensuring that desperate measures may be resorted to by those who feel as though they have lost their voice.

Please think critically as to how we can have civil discourse about all manner of socially explosive issues, without resorting to leveling lawsuits against those with whom we disagree. Do not allow the chains of censorship to silence the free speech of democracy.

Also, here is a lecture by Slavoj Zizek in which he argues that this so-called "tolerance" banner beneath which such acts as this registry are justified, is actually fundamentally intolerant. He makes an astute observation on the Christian duty to "love thy neighbor". This registry, and other such moves done in the name of "tolerance" are, according to Zizek, our way of keeping the "neighbor" at arm's length, ultimately leaving them unloved.