[1503] in peace2
Poster issue
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Mark H. Weaver)
Mon Feb 25 21:28:50 2002
To: alsmith@mit.edu
Cc: peace-list@mit.edu
From: mhw@netris.org (Mark H. Weaver)
Date: 25 Feb 2002 21:25:25 -0500
Message-ID: <87n0xxt1wq.fsf@strings.netris.org>
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Aimee,
Thanks for the web page containing the discussion over the poster
issue. I have read it with great interest.
I agree with you completely that the posters are inappropriate and
that we should fight hard against them, and I have great respect for
your strength and persistence. However, I do have one serious concern
about your tactics. I could be wrong -- and I'm open to be convinced
otherwise, but here's my current take...
I think the proper solution to any kind of inappropriate speech is to
refute it, not to forcefully silence it. Deal with inappropriate
speech by shaming the speakers, and you'll have no disagreement from
me. Organize people to attach a critical poster to every single one
of these offensive posters, and you'll have my praise and my help too!
But if you take advantage of the limitations in free speech in a
private place like MIT, it makes me very concerned. You may have the
law on your side, but that doesn't mean you should use this law to
your advantage. Doing so may be a shortcut to achieve your immediate
goal, but by doing so, I think you are implicitly justifying the idea
that censorship is acceptable and useful.
If censorship becomes acceptable, it will not be reasonable people
like you and I who decide what is to be censored. It will be the
powerful, and they will use that power to censor dissenting views like
ours.
Given the recent controversy at WMBR, this really hits home for me.
Maybe I'm being too simplistic, but I think that if it becomes
socially acceptable to officially and forcefully forbid speech, in the
end this will help our oppressors far more than it helps us.
Please, let's not resort to such methods. Educate, refute and shame,
but do not forcefully silence people. Fight the battle for feminism
without fighting against free speech. If you think I'm wrong, I'd be
happy to discuss it further with an open mind. I have great respect
for your opinion and your work.
Mark
--
"If ever we are to free humanity from its tangled net of chains,
we must each refuse to hold the chains within our reach" -mhw
