March for freedom
"If there is a walnut in your hand and people say thatit is a pearl, their saying will not benefit you in any way when you know that it is actually a walnut.And if there is a pearl in your hand and people say that it is a walnut, their saying will not harm you in any way when you know that it is actually a pearl." -Musa Al-Kadhim (AS), the 7th Imam
Tomorrow, from 2pm, in Trafalgar Square, is the March for Free Expression. It is a march against censorship for the right for all to speak freely. It is a march about allowing us to have the choice to offend (even if there is almost always one proper answer to that choice). If we cannot express ourselves and debate things we cannot be sure the "perceived truth" is right. That is the power of expression and the importance of free expression.
Trust People wholeheartedly endorses the statement of principle and I will be there with full lungs tomorrow.
"Free speech is the jewel in the crown of a civilized society and we curtail the right to freedom of expression at our peril. The common denominator of every totalitarian state is the suppression of free speech."
"My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular." - Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.
6 Comments:
Bugger. Knew there was something I'd wanted to do today!
Well done. It takes us all to stop this nonsense prevailing in our country of preventing ordinary people saying ordinary things. Others take offence and the ordinary person is made to feel he has been unplesant
So how did it go?
Was it worth it?
It was worthwhile. I have to be honest in that the turnout was not stupendous, but it was important that a stand was made. For a budget operation coordinated over the internet in incliment weather it was a pretty good showing.
You should have let me know you were going. You could have joined us for a beer.
I'd have loved to! Still, I'm sure we'll have cause to man the barricades again...
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