Marketplace of Ideas

There is an old German folk song called, “Die Gedanken Sind Frei.”  That translates to, “The Thoughts are Free.”  Iran, North Korea and Vietnam have shown that a person under duress may be forced to “confess” to things that are not true or are against that person’s core beliefs.  They can even be “brainwashed” into changing what they think and feel while they are in captivity.  In almost every case, however, they recant their confessions and return to their original beliefs once they are released.  In short, it is very difficult to force someone to change their mind.  People must be persuaded.

Freedom of expression is necessary in order for persuasion to take place.  People cannot make authentic choices between ideas, feelings, and beliefs unless all points of view can be freely expressed.

I attended a large state university from 1966 to 1970.  During that time, I participated in ROTC, and I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army after I earned my bachelor’s degree.  Feelings against the war in Vietnam were running high at that time, and there was a lot of ill will towards the military, the draft, and ROTC.  Cadets, as we were called, were required to wear their uniforms on campus every Thursday, and we were called things like “ROTC Nazi” and “baby burner.”  Even when we were not in uniform, our military haircuts made it obvious that we weren’t hippies.  Casual conversations with other students often gravitated toward questions like, “How can you be in the military when we are fighting an unjust war?”  Girls didn’t exactly beat a path to our door.  There was a lot of pressure to leave ROTC and throw in with the anti-war crowd.

Our professors talked a lot about academic freedom.  Yet, there was one professor who told me that I was a “red baiter” and a McCarthyite because I quoted J. Edgar Hoover in his Political Science class.  He said that I might as well stop attending because I had just earned an “F.”  A Geology professor threatened to fail me if I wore “that uniform” in his class, even though I was required to.  I wore it, and he gave me a “D.”  I really couldn’t contest it because I didn’t try very hard in that class after he made an issue out of wearing the uniform.  A Marxist professor in a History class told me that I didn’t have to accept the ideas he was teaching, but I had to learn them well enough to be able to show that I understood them on his tests.

I get a bit of a chuckle out of news programs that report discrimination against conservative students and professors on college campuses today as if it were something new.  It has been going on for a long time.  Historically, colleges and universities have seldom been the unfettered forum for freedom of thought and expression that they say they are.

When I was in ROTC one response we gave to the criticism we got from professors and other students was, “I don’t agree with what you are saying, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it.”  I am proud to hear reports that veterans are still saying that today.

The only way we can lessen the violence we see in the world see around us is to learn to respect each other enough to be patient with the other guy, while he says his piece.  If we think that the loudest argument should prevail, and continue to talk over each other, we set the stage for conflict and violence.  There are groups that are rioting to keep others whom they disagree with from speaking.  People, acting in the name of religion, are killing people who worship differently.

In response, some are advocating that Mosques be placed under surveillance or infiltrated by undercover agents.  Christian pastors are in fear of speaking freely about current events, due to the risk of losing their tax-exempt status.  If you are a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist, a Hindu, or if you are Jewish … be warned.  We reap what we sow.  What we do to Muslims today will set a precedent for what society might do to us tomorrow.

Don’t get me wrong.  People must not be allowed to use religion, or religious institutions, to foment terrorism and violence, or work toward the overthrow of the government.  We the people have a right to protection from such activities, and all legal means must be taken to do so.  The first amendment guarantees us the right to peacefully worship as we choose, not to use religion as a cover for violent, terroristic, criminal activities. Let me be clear, however, that “people of faith” have as much right to peacefully advocate for their point of view as anyone else does.

If you believe you have the best take on things, then have faith that your point of view will prevail, eventually, in a free marketplace of ideas.  If you think you must use violence for your ideas to come out on top, then isn’t there something weak and wrong about your ideas?  Fellow Americans, let us have a country in which we all have the freedom to advocate for our beliefs and ideas … peacefully and respectfully.