Time and again, it amazes me that some people can live their entire lives in America and not have the slightest clue what their American freedoms really mean. The most recent example of many in the Lantern is Felicia Henderson’s column Friday.Ms. Henderson takes issue with Dinesh D’Souza and Stephen Faulstich, and with good reason. Yet she repeatedly claims that they have “no right” to say what they have said, and this I find troubling.In America, even the stupidest person has a right to speak. Even the most hateful person has a right to speak. Neo-Nazis, Maoists, Satanists and even members of Congress all have the right to speak. They have this right so that you and I may have it as well. Denying this freedom to anyone endangers it for everyone else. Free speech is absolute, unconditional, and unmitigated – or else it is nothing. To deny freedom of speech may look like a shortcut to consensus, but really it’s a long, dangerous road to tyranny.
Jason T. Kuznicki, graduate student, history
