I will open with full transparency: I am the editor in chief of The Criterion. Although it may seem somewhat silly for the lead editor to write a letter to the editor, I am doing so to fully separate myself from the organization for my message: the United States Constitution, and therefore The First Amendment, is far more important to protect than feelings. While there are members of The Criterion that share my view, this message is entirely from me.
When I say there are members that share my perspective, what I mean is it has been a unanimous thought process within The Criterion. Everybody here supports the constitution. In fact, it was a fellow editor that convinced me to write this using my somewhat unique perspective.
That is the perspective of a military veteran. I’m not the only vet at CMU, but I am the only one that runs a media outlet, which can be on the front lines of First Amendment issues.
Recently, one of our contributors wrote an opinion piece about the First Amendment. It used the Westboro Baptist Church as an example of how important the First Amendment is. The article did not, in any way, condone the actions of that despicable organization.
An organization that says, “thank God for dead soldiers,” at service member funerals will never have their actions condoned by this soldier. Yet they have the right to say it. It’s important that they keep that right; even though it comes at a strong contrast to my feelings.
The same thing is true about people who kneel to protest the national anthem. I find it distasteful and disrespectful, but I will always defend their right to do it.
When I joined the Army, I swore an oath to defend the United States Constitution. That oath has no expiration date. When my time in service ended, the oath did not.
My oath also did not provide a caveat for anything that may be found distasteful. I did not swear to defend the constitution except for when it allowed people to say things I don’t like.
I am a man of my word. When I make a promise, I keep it. An oath is as sacred as a promise may be. That is why, like Evelyn Beatrice Hall, I may disagree with what someone says, but I will defend to the death their right to say it.
The problem is that many today claim righteousness while seeking to silence all those that disagree with them. They use words like ‘hate speech’ and ‘science denier’ to limit free speech. They do it because of how such speech makes them feel.
It doesn’t matter how we feel. Either all speech is free or none of it is. When none of it is, none of us are free. I’m not wrapping myself in the flag to defend disgusting actions; I’m wrapping myself in freedom to defend everything that I stand for. Otherwise, what did I fight to protect?
