Your Hateful Speech

In the interests of a civilized debate, one man installs a message board in a very public space at Carleton University. Students are free to post messages that reflect their thoughts, their values. And many do. Mostly anonymous, in the spirit of spurring perhaps not exactly debate but an understanding that most people share basic values and sometimes despite that there are issues where not all agree. And so be it.

But it was not to be. How can a decent fellow accept as the right to free speech someone posting comments that are deliberately hateful, meant to inspire harm to others. Well, a decent fellow wouldn't accept that. He would act, decisively, to ensure that no further hate messages are posted. And to do that the message board must be destroyed.

Carleton Students for Liberty/Facebook

The destroyed display board had been erected by Carleton Students for Liberty, a campus club. Since the purpose of the board was to communicate, and students were encouraged to write whatever they felt like expressing, one person wrote "abortion is murder", another "traditional marriage is awesome".

The offending comments drew the ire of GBLTO Centre volunteer Riley Evans. Who informed the student newspaper, the Charlatan, that it was an attack against those who had abortions, and those who enjoyed same-sex relationships.

To which Campus co-ordinator for the CSFL, Ian CoKehyeng explained: "We feel that university is supposed to be an area of discourse and free thought, but it's actually the opposite. We have less free speech on campus."

That appears to be the case, with people who subscribe to their own mode of thought and values esteeming those competitive thoughts and values less than their own, understandably, but condemning them as well. In what takes the prize for infantile righteousness and discriminatory bias, one student who has studied human rights for 7 years at university destroyed the message board.

The triumphalism of his social attitude could be determined in his unambiguous response to criticism at having high-handedly destroyed a communication medium in a prominent place at the university to inspire and encourage communication between people of differing values. He was performing a service to society. Obliterating the insufferable.

Photo courtesy of Matt Bufton Messages like "Abortion is murder" and "Queers are awesome" appear in this photo of the "Free Speech Wall" at Carleton University before a student tore it down Tuesday.

 Xtra's online site knows Arun Smith, and gratefully acknowledges his unstinting work on behalf of gays, by becoming the campus co-ordinator for the Canadian Federation of Students' Challenge Homophobia and Transphobia campaign. The message of the campaign is queer students fighting back against discrimination. In view of his official status, Arun Smith took the initiative to destroy the offending message board that was promulgating 'hate' messages.

Such as the one that claims heterosexual marriage is 'awesome'. Intolerable. But Mr. Smith demonstrated the bona fides of his progressive social activism.  This sanctimonious little twerp posing as an academic scholar feels quite entitled to defend his actions as those of a champion of the discriminated against, and in so doing demonstrated amply the bigotry of the righteous.

No one is permitted to hold an opinion that can be construed as criticizing the values of others.

"These are our identities. Our lives are being attacked viciously with violence and hate. It's not something we can let continue. Recognize that you are who you are and that's something to be proud of; it doesn't matter if people attack you for it -- and people will.  Not everyone has the capacity to fight back, and I understand that, which is why those of us who do have the capacity to do so have to do it."

And so he did. And so there. Don't even think contrary thoughts. The sensitive receivers of those thoughts translated to written language are critically impacted by the very idea that disapproval emanates from sources that should have the good sense to shut their minds to alternatives, just as Arun Smith with his fragile sensitivities has done.