By Rylie Painter | Broadcast Reporter
The First Amendment is one of the most deliberated topics in American politics. There seems to be a common major issue — freedom of speech only matters when we agree with what is being said.
In a country that prides itself on free speech, we are so quick to silence opposing viewpoints. Whether it’s our political leaders or even American citizens themselves, Democrats and Republicans constantly disregard the freedom of speech just because they have different opinions on several topics.
77% of Republicans lacked confidence that Democrats would protect their free speech, while 72% of Democrats said the same about Republicans. It is even reported that self-described Independents have low or no confidence that Democrats and Republicans would protect their free speech.
The contradiction becomes even more interesting when we consider that 88% of Americans agree that free speech involves dealing with people who disagree with you. However, only 33% believe that people sharing controversial views they disagree with makes a positive contribution to society.
It has even been found that citizens who have concerns when it comes to freedom of speech appear to shift with political power. Studies show that when a Republican is in power, 60% of Democrats were highly concerned about restrictions on freedom, compared with just 28% of Republicans. When it switched, those numbers were reversed, with Republicans expressing greater concern.
People have every right to disagree or challenge when they believe someone is wrong. However, disagreement does not mean automatically shutting someone down and attempting to silence them. There is a significant difference in disagreeing and not allowing something to speak their opinion.
If the norm is to silence someone the moment we disagree, then we are in more danger than just our right to freedom of speech. Open discourse forces us to expand our own beliefs, and venture outside our comfort zone.
We can’t expect the freedom of speech for ourselves while refusing the same expectations for others. We don’t always agree with what everyone says and we certainly do not have to like everything people say. But if we only defend speech that aligns with our personal beliefs, we are missing the entire point.
If our freedom of speech only matters when we agree with what’s being said, it wasn’t ever about freedom in the first place.
