Proof The Bible Is True

09/23/21

My Jewish father was an old country lawyer who believed deeply in fairness and justice for all living people, so I was curious what he thought about the Nazis.

It was spring of 1977, and the American Nazi Party had announced their intention to hold a July 4^th rally in the town of Skokie, a predominantly Jewish community in Illinois. Not surprisingly, the town of Skokie had sought an injunction to ban the rally, and the Nazis had, ironically, sought the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to fight the injunction.

The subject at the family dinner table was this: Should the American Civil Liberties Union protect the free-speech rights of Nazis?

Remember, we’re of Jewish heritage, so it’s hard to look at the philosophical issues involved objectively because there’s so much emotion attached to the subject matter. Nonetheless, I’ll never forget my father’s response:

“They have to defend them,” he said of the ACLU’s decision to fight the ban on behalf of the Nazi Party. “Free speech isn’t just for people you agree with.”

It isn’t. Free speech is about vigorously defending the rights of people with whom you disagree.

“Censorship almost always creates more damage than whatever’s being censored would’ve caused,” my father told me.

Right now, the country is bitterly and tragically divided over the challenges associated with COVID. I want to suggest that we’re facing a bigger challenge—equally terrifying, but one on which we can and should be united: the quietly emerging challenges to our free speech.

There’s a below-the-radar increase in censorship and “de-platforming” taking place right now, and it’s making disturbing inroads into our First Amendment rights.

Read More: We’ve Got a Way Bigger Problem than “Disinformation” – WholeFoods Magazine