Matt Wuerker for April 28, 2015
Transcript:
Man: Free speech is absolute!! You have a right to say anything! Woman: Regardless of ethnic or religious sensitivities? Man: You have a right to say anything! Woman: Even if it's heedlessly provocative? Man: You have a right to say anything. Mab 2: Then it's OK to say those cartoons are awful, mean and crude. Man: You can't say that! How can you be so insensitive?
Of course you can say anything, if you are brave enough to suffer the consequences of someone’s faith-based response. Faith is the sine qua non of all religious belief. It is necessary to bridge the gap between cognitive dissonance and emotional confusion. The faithful always seem to have to act out their doubt. This is not confined to religion, of course. As a species, we have adapted to the foreknowledge of our mortality with stories and anxiety. In our heart of hearts, even the most faithful have doubt about their religious impulses and the faith required to bridge the gap between the known and unknown. When the faith is especially strong, it dispels doubt and compels action, often delusional action. This is a natural outcome of a surfeit of faith. There is also a type of faith in the notion of “free speech.” We tend to want to create a clear-cut moral right to say anything we want. The big difference is that faith in free speech opens up the human experience to all sorts of beneficial things. Religious faith stands in direct opposition to faith in free speech, though, as it can spiral into negative faith-based actions by the faithful. If free speech is disturbing to you, then pay no attention. The Islamic idiots must have a very deep well of insecurity about their faith to feel the need to “defend” it so violently.