Standing up for those you dislike

I never thought I would be quoting a Waikato Law Professor, but one can’t help but agree with Andrew Gillespie‘s column in the NZ Herald. Extracts:

Welcome to the increasingly intolerant society. A society where free speech, the liberty from which all other freedoms spring, has been under systematic siege on three fronts for the past year.

The first attack on free speech was when Parliament decided to remove the right of the public to satirise, ridicule or denigrate any Parliamentarian while at work in the chamber.

… The second area where free speech is under attack is with the new Electoral Finance Act.

…The third attack on free speech has been over gang insignia. At the moment, there is a move in some regions to restrict what gang members may wear in certain public spaces.

…Freedom of speech encompasses all aspects of our lives. The test of how sincere we are about freedom of speech is in how much we are willing to tolerate those we disagree with.

Gillespie is basically saying what Noam Chomsky once said:

If we don’t believe in free expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.

Talking of the Electoral Finance Act, well done to those who got front page media coverage for their anti-EFA protest at Parliament on Tuesday.

Peter McC has a good roundup of stories and links.