Problem with freedom of speech

Categories: Wormie Says

For a long time the West had been championing the freedom of speech. This is all good and sundry if freedom of speech is used responsibly. The current controversy involving the portraying of Prophet Mohammad in a cartoon caricature is a good example on the dangers of freedom of speech if it is not laced with some responsibility.

In the Islamic faith, the Prophet Mohammad cannot be portrayed as such images could encourage idolatry. Therefore the caricature is forbidden under Islam. And to portray the Prophet with the bomb as a turban is a definite affront to the Muslims.

Granted that when the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten first published the caricature in September last year, they may have been ignorant about such sensitivities. However after the outcry by the Muslim world, other newspapers should be sensitive. Instead, they chose to publish the caricature citing the freedom of speech as its main principle. This is where freedom of speech fails.

When people talk about freedom of speech, they are assuming that the person behind the speech is a responsible one. Being responsible means not having an intention to hurt or injury either physically, mentally or emotionally. Otherwise chaos will happen under the guise of freedom of speech. A good example will be that of Osama bin Laden. He is exercising his freedom of speech when he asked "Muslims" to attack the US. The Hamas which recently won the Palestinian election is also practicing freedom of speech when they say that they will destroy Israel and so is the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regarding Israel. But what are the consequences of such "freedom of speech"? Terrorism. This is the consequence of freedom of speech without responsibility.

In many Asian societies, the populations are rather heterogeneous. Therefore, freedom of speech is always tampered with some restrictions. This is probably difficult for the West to understand because they have a more homogeneous populations. Chances of hurting someone by saying something stupid is less likely compared to the so-called Eastern cultures.

It is interesting to note that the Western newspapers are still adamant and being provocative in publishing the caricatures amid talks of anti-Muslims protests in Denmark and the current terrorist climate around the world. When violence breaks out, it is easy to blame it on the so-called Muslim terrorist when the West had not been sensitive to their concerns. To tackle the so-called Muslim extremist is not by force but by diplomacy. If you push anyone to a corner even the moderates will change sides. The more you push, even the most moderates will switch in time.

It is therefore timely when the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday that freedom of the press should not be an excuse for insulting religions and that "the freedom of the press should always be exercised in a way that fully respects the religious beliefs and tenets of all religions"

If the West has no respect for any other cultures as amply seen in its colonial history, then freedom of speech is just another tool in its colonial mentality.