Authoritarianism

We Own the Truth

/ Jim / Leave a comment

I want to be clear to everyone: questioning policies of our government is not being disloyal to that government. It is exercizing exactly what our founders desired but had to separate from England to establish: the right to free speech. We often interpret that to mean, well, everything, but the founders were considering the tyranny and oppresion of their government, so the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights to the constitution is the most important and those today questioning others patriotism based on questioning actions taken or not taken by our government is a discredit to those that wrote those famous words placed on paper in 1789.

Continue reading →

Is Social Media Presence a Civil Right?

/ Jim / 8 Comments

 

socialmedia.jpeg

So now it seems a person may be permanently banned by social media, in this case, Facebook, for just appearing in a video with someone deemed  undesirable. That’s not going to work very well for journalists, is it as they are always interviewing, sometimes on camera, people that many people may despise because of their views on a number of topics. Oh, wait! No, they won’t ban these journalists as their ideological positions fit within what Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms view as acceptable. I’ve written numerous times about social media censoring and have stated outright that these are private companies and have ban whoever they want. After a lot of thought and conversation with other people I know and trust, I think that position is simplistic.

Continue reading →

The Demonization of Chik-Fil-A

/ Jim / 1 Comment

chukfila

Image courtesy of Chik-Fil-A

I read recently that the City of San Antonio, Texas, have refused Chik-Fil-A  permission to open a store at their airport, citing the companys anti-LGBTQ stance and their donations to groups that are anti-LGBTQ. Buffalo Niagara Airport, more recently, denied Chik-Fil-A accomodation at their facility for the same reason. As most are aware, Chik-Fil-A is a Christian, family owned business. The question is should any business be banned from a public facility based on their religious belief? As long as they don’t directly discriminate against anyone, the answer should be no.

Continue reading →

Should Government be Able to Suppress Speech it Doesn’t Approve of?

/ Jim / 3 Comments

 

A3EB7C32-1B48-40F9-A54F-DE6DE8E8FFB1

Should the government, any government that claims to be for freedom of speech openly advocate for the opposite simply because they happen to dislike a person, consider them a racist and a bigot? Before anyone answers, think about it as it may apply to you. You speak out  on a subject the government would rather you didn’t. Maybe you’ve been arrested for just openly advocating for what you believe is true. I’m not saying that people who incite violence on others should not be prosecuted, but what about those that just say that something, whatever it is, is evil?

Continue reading →