Free Speech, Squeek Up

I think my perspective on free speech came not from the 60’s although I admit I sat up that night of the riots at the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 68 and just wept. My perspective was developed in 1982 when we put up a banner on a large “frat house” on fraternity row. The banner read, “Jesus Christ Is Lord of the University of Minnesota.”
A bit presumptuous, I admit, but this is what we believed then and it is what we believe now. Simply put, Jesus is the one and only true Lord of the Universe. And I am not in the least embarrassed to say so. It is just clear plain Christian doctrine. “Jesus Christ Is Lord” is simply the first historical Christian creed. It was all the doctrine the early church had for over 200 years.

Well, predicatively, you would have thought we set off a small and dirty nuclear device in the midst of a peaceful nation. The University newspaper The Minnesota Daily ran editorials and letters about the event for weeks afterward. There were those who wanted to debate the issue and there were others that simply angrily demanded that we remove the sign at once. We did neither. About a week later a march was organized and the media was alerted. Like clockwork, at around noon about 15 people from other belief groups came and marched on the sidewalk in front of our building. Some were wearing saffron robes and others dressed in various religious garb for the good of the camera opportunity. They carried signs that said, “Buddha is Lord” and “Krishna is Lord” (respectfully nobody carried a “Jesus is not Lord” sign) and “unfair” and “we protest” but overall the demonstration was peaceful. It was near zero so after the TV crew left we invited the protesters inside and had a fire and cookies and hot chocolate.

They asked us why we put up the sign. I said it was because it was what we believed. They said it made them mad. I said that’s too bad. I invited them to put up signs of whatever they believed and that I would respect their right to do likewise. I said I expected them to respect our rights. We parted cordially. This is an example of true free speech in America. America is one of the few places on the globe where this sort of exchange can go on. But it is disappearing fast. As fast as you can say, “feminized nation.”

But there are those who would saddle free speech like a donkey and make it their beast of burden to carry their agenda all the way back to the dark ages. Their idea of free speech is that they alone will have the right to speak freely and everybody else must restrict their free speech so that they are not caused any undo frustration by it. Free speech is only for the PC. Everybody else must be sensitive.

Well, let’s all run up our own flags and see if anybody salutes them, that is what I say.
If your god is god, let him light the fires of the altars. If our God is God then He will light the fire. Fair is fair. Right?