By Bela “Bill” Suhayda,
Sugar Grove, Ill.
The death of free speech!
It didn’t concern me much when efforts, even five years ago, tried to silence free expression. I assumed as Americans, we would protect this very important cornerstone to our now lost democracy. I used to believe we had pride in ourselves on freedom of thought, expression, religion, autonomy, privacy, and all of the other protections covered under our Constitution and First Amendment. I was wrong!
They want us uninformed. Those who choose darkness can’t live in the light. Imagine the chilling effect this has on self-expression. Then I saw this head line, in the September 30 publication of The Voice: “Nonsense Commentaries Must Cease,” thevoice.us/readers-commentary-non-sense-commentaries-must-cease.
Vince Smith wrote the article. He went into some detail characterizing people writing to The Voice as “Whack Jobs!” He wrote: “It seems to me The Voice has become a print version of Facebook, both providing a platform for all too many who have no qualifications for spewing the gibberish that they foist upon the reading public.”
Firstly….no one needs qualifications for spewing gibberish. Secondly… I don’t think Mr. Smith is being forced to read any article he thinks to be “gibberish”? He has choices! Thirdly: Since when has Mr. Smith appointed himself editor of this paper? A contributor to The Voice (not me) sarcastically and with irony wrote: “Given a choice between getting the vaccine and a lethal injection, I’d take the lethal injection.”
Most readers have the sophistication to understand hyperbole when they see it. Mr. Smith apparently doesn’t! But Mr. Smith conveniently disqualified the rest of what the contributor had to say based on his (Mr. Smith’s) misunderstanding.
Mr. Smith, it is because we allow for disagreement and even hyperbole to exist in this country that we’ve had freedom until now. And as Mr. Smith should know, in the sciences, one of the first and most important axioms is the free exchange of ideas. We don’t prejudge any hypothesis. We don’t eliminate ideas because of politics, or bias. We don’t eliminate concepts because of who is saying them. We accept all interpretations, then test them for validity. This is how science works. It is the method by which we look for truth. It is why, in my science classes, I always taught the scientific method first and foremost. It is the basis for science and it is the basis of a free society as well. Eliminating the freedom of ideas and thoughts is what is destroying science and this country today. It is because of the intolerance of those such as Mr. Smith that we will lose our freedom of thought and our country. Mr. Smith calls himself a scientist, yet doesn’t understand these basic principles of truth-seeking.
It’s because we have allowed disagreement, that we have had the treasure trove of solutions making this country the innovator of the world. It’s because disagreement is not allowed by dictatorships that the Chinese and other totalitarians, by necessity, have become thieves of our ideas. Communists keep their populations uninformed, dependent, and creatively stunted. It is where the left is taking us today. A nation needs tolerance for diverse solutions if they want to go forward. Tolerance defines freedom. I always thought it is to be commonsensical. Enter COVID, fear-mongering, censorship, and the destruction of both our natural and civil liberties.
When the United States is destroyed, it will be when we are no longer allowed our thoughts.
I welcome Vince Smith to disagree with me. I believe in a free exchange of ideas. I challenge Mr. Smith to a debate on topics of this virus, climate change, abortion, and any other scientific topics that are relevant to us today. It’s not enough to call my articles “gibberish” Mr. Smith. You need to have factual information to dismiss what I’ve said in my articles. You offered none in your attempted rebuttal.
Finally, it is when we are forced to do things when we resist the most. It is when people’s rights are taken that they refuse. These are the reasons socialism and communism always fail.