No organization, private or public, may restrict the rights, freedoms, and liberties of the American people on American soil. Few rights are held as dear by the American people as the freedom of speech, and even the most despised of speech is to be protected (you win again Rosie O’Donnell). This right is guaranteed by the Constitution, the bedrock of American law. This beautiful document is made all the more wonderful by its ability to grow and adapt to the times through the process of amendment. The very first thing that the drafters of this testament to human liberty added was the freedom of speech. The ability to speak freely and adamantly without fear of repercussion to one’s self or family is a wondrous thing. This liberty is so revered that countless young American lives have been sacrificed to protect it.

In a day and age where restrictions of personal liberty and systematic control are all the rage, one particular group has sought to wield the freedom of speech as a weapon against the very people that pioneered it: radical Islam. Freedom of speech is afforded to even the most hated of speech; but should one intend to restrict, censor, or deny that right in an attempt to stifle the voice of an opponent, then one defiles the very spirit of a free society. The very liberty that allows radical Islam to rage against the evils and excesses of America and her way of life permits opponents of radical Islam to speak their piece as well. One cannot invoke the First Amendment as a means of attack and then try to retract that right from the opponent so that he may not respond. The very thought reeks of cowardice.

Cartoonist the world over have been threatened with death for simply drawing a cartoon. Those that have leveled these threats do so under the auspices of free speech. Yet, these death dealers deny the right of the cartoonist to draw even a single picture. Under what oddly shaped double edged double standard do these people operate?

Playing the blasphemy card to silence an opponent demonstrates an utter lack of intellectual and academic validation for the cause, the message, and the idea. There is no topic that is beyond reproach. None. If an idea is truly great, then no amount of criticism may lessen it. If an idea is truly great, then criticism should be welcome so that the idea may champion itself. If an idea is actually a thinly veiled excuse to subjugate, demean, demoralize, terrorize, and destroy those whom think differently … then I can understand why dissidents must be silenced by any means necessary.

Information is the lifeblood of a free people. To deny an opinion to be voiced, even if that opinion flies in the face of one’s most cherished beliefs, is an insult to the very idea of freedom. George Washington, in his speech to his Officers at Newburg on March 15, 1783, said if “the freedom of speech may taken away. [then] dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter.”