The Philosofer

I was on Facebook today when I checked my notifications and saw a group invite from someone I don’t interact with on a normal basis.  They were inviting me to a group called, “Block Ashley Madison”.  Thinking that Ashley Madison was a person I googled the name and found that Ashley Madison was a website that connects married people who wanted to cheat on their spouses.  This made the outrage on the Facebook page understandable and I could see where people were coming from in wanting to ban it.

Another example of this may be the much spoken of and infamous Westboro Baptist Church.  We love to talk about them and we love to hate them, all the while they get more airtime.  In case you’ve been living under a rock the past 10 years the WBC is a faith-based hate group from Oklakansarkana or somewhere that pickets the funerals of fallen soldiers and children.  The big issue that even went up to the Supreme Court is, should these people be allowed to spew their hate on good people like fallen soldiers and massacred children?  The Supreme Courts decision, which I agree with, is yes, they should be allowed to carry on.  Most of America was outraged at this and I can see why but lets look a little closer.

The issue that arises when we want to ban something we think is wrong is we are setting a standard up against ourselves in the future.  Possibly, the clearest picture of this is in the ongoing gay marriage debate.  I know I am hitting all the hot button issues with this post.  However, the way I see it, by giving the government power to dictate who can and cannot be married, we are setting up a dangerous precedent for the future.  I don’t want the government to tell my kids that they cannot marry the person they want based on IQ score, ethnicity, or social status.  And this is exactly the power we are giving the government when we oppose gay marriage, the civil rights issue aside.

When we move to block things like the Westboro Baptist Church and sites like Ashley Madison we do so at the risk of our future selves.  We risk granting power that may someday be used against us.  Granted, this has limits but common sense says that Ashley Madison doesn’t really affect us unless we visit the site.  The people who are going to cheat on their spouses are going to do so with or without the help of a website who makes the connection.  Everyone knows WBC is a joke and no one is flocking to join their movement.  If anything, they have bolstered the sense of solidarity in America by bringing together everyone from biker gangs to university students to counter protest.

The truth is freedom comes with a price.  A price more than the one we pay to achieve it, this price is paid to maintain it.

Another cost of enduring freedom is allowing people to do things we don’t approve of.

This is the only way we can insure that we will have freedom of speech and expression for generations to come.  We must endure the hate groups.  We must grit our teeth and ignore the sleazy sites that encourage and enable infidelity.  The day may come when the tables are turned and we find ourselves in the minority with our most basic freedoms of marriage, morals, speech and expression under fire from the majority.  In that day let us hope we have propagated true freedom with those we don’t approve of so that we may be assured the same fairness.