Readers respond to last week’s Feedback Friday topic, which was:
1st Amendment Rights vs. Cancel Culture
Here’s what you said:
Individuals, as employees, should not be penalized for their opinions UNLESS it impacts the public image of his employer, be it government or private industry, and he doesn't propagate it through internal media communications.
Reinaldo Luis Andujar, Annapolis
The First Amendment restricts only the government from abridging freedom of speech, not other institutions. If, in the name of honoring every individual as a human created in the image of God and deserving of dignity, an organization chooses to limit derogatory or demeaning speech, I have no objections.
Steven Onken, Odenton
I thoroughly object to deliberately hurtful speech and actions -- from calling people derogatory names to physically harming them because of race, disability, etc., and having a public square featuring statues of well-known historical slavery advocates. Nevertheless, I equally object to mobs throughout the country knocking down statues of all people who simply had a slave, when slavery was the horrible, but almost universal, "institution" in the South and throughout the world; America was one of the first countries that eliminated slavery, and perhaps, some of the statues in question did not, in fact, represent cruel people.
A most egregious mob action was vandalizing the statue of Francis Scott Key, the writer of our National Anthem, in Baltimore. Anger over recent incidents that evoke the memories of oppression have spilled over into hatred of our very own country, which is now supposed to stand for freedom. It seems as if the growing anger and unforgiveness keeps giving rise to more incidents of violence and destruction and more forceful, deadly responses, which, in turn, fuel more anger to the point at which every questionable policy, action, or even word is considered a threat or sign of "hate".
In America, we have already cancelled God and eliminated His light from the public square, schools, and legislation. So isn't canceling God a precursor to canceling culture? Vocal minorities drown out the majority, which basically adheres to God's law, and succeed in passing legislation that eliminates traditional speech to the point that we soon might not even be allowed to use "gender pronouns". While mankind is trying to solve our problems and create a utopia of unity and freedom, without following God and His light, we work in vain. Rather, we are setting ourselves up to follow a path of darkness, where unity depends on enforcement by an oppressive regime which marginalizes and ultimately persecutes those whose "thoughts" do not align with the new "culture". We are already heading down the path as we make exceptions to the Bible and the Constitution to accommodate the latest idols of the "people."
Our governing officials have allowed flag burning and statue toppling in the name of free speech, but have prosecuted a wedding-cake designer for refusing to design on that contradicted his godly convictions. On many college campuses, authority figures have attacked students for expressing their views and have banned speakers who honor God to speak at graduation ceremonies, perhaps out of fear of a threat to our "cancel culture". It certainly looks as if free speech is in danger.
Meanwhile, many of us are continuing to pray and fight for our nation's democracy, its return to traditional values without oppression, individual equality-based merit, and the right to free speech with respect for others and even opposing views.
Carol Moyer, Riva
We have endured the broadest and most liberal interpretations of First Amendment rights for a long time. Woodrow Wilson was probably the president who came closest to infringing on that right in the Alien & Sedition Act.
Now that the liberals, radicals, and anarchists smell blood, they will not tolerate anyone who does not view the world or embrace the same values they do. What we're going through these last few months reminds me of Chairman Mao's "Cultural Revolution," an Anti-Rightist Campaign, with at least 550,000 people persecuted, most of whom were intellectuals and dissidents.
We have degraded democracy to "mob rule" and the louder and more violent the mob, the more attention they get. Hypocrisy, intellectual dishonesty and lack of moral courage to do what is right has discredited our political leaders--Congress has an approval rate of 8% and the president has set a new historic low for a new president.
Brullman Kirchner, Annapolis
Never in my lifetime did I think I would fear that my rights to say what I wish would be in jeopardy. The freedom to express your viewpoints without being labeled or ostracized. Life would be pretty dull if everyone agreed with everything. Some people have lost their minds and it scares me to death.
Camille Cimino, Annapolis
