LimaUniformNovemberAlpha wrote:(Image)
I see this comic thrown around a lot more often than I see anyone claiming their 1st Amendment rights are being violated for any of these things. It frankly makes me wonder whether it's become more of a way to strawman one's critics than honestly refute them.
I'm not sure, however, whether or not I see it more often than people claiming that others shouting over you contradicts the concept of freedom of speech, without claiming it's against the 1st Amendment in particular. (Not everyone lives in the USA, after all.) It leaves behind the point of what is the point of freedom of speech if people shouting over you effectively prevents others from being able to hear what you have to say.
So that leaves behind the question; who invented the phrase itself? Does the phrase "freedom of speech" refer exclusively, by definition, to that which the authors of the American Bill Of Rights used it to refer to, or did it have a prior definition?
I remember hearing this with regards to a controversial speaker who was supposed to speak on some college campus. People showed up to protest him and clap their hands and shout over his speech, drowning out his commentary.
They were not violating his first amendment rights, but on the flip side of the coin they were essentially deciding for me and everybody else either listening to the speech in person or virally that what he was saying wasn't worth listening to.
I like judging speeches and their content for myself. I do not like having other people decide for me what I can and cannot listen to. Let the man talk. By shouting over him, they were also being incredibly disrespectful. Respect your opponent, no matter what his political views are. Respectfully disagree with them, pick apart his argument bit by bit, instead of resorting to childish tantrums. Drowning him out is no better than namecalling or blowing raspberries.