Who Speaks for Free Speech in New England?

In a Washington Post op-ed, William Bennett and Alan Dershowitz (yes, you read that pairing right) state an obvious but important point about the response of Western media elites to the Dutch cartoons depicting the image of Mohammed that have sparked riots in the Europe, the Middle East, and Africa…

So far as we can tell, a new, twin policy from the mainstream media has been promulgated: (a) If a group is strong enough in its reaction to a story or caricature, the press will refrain from printing that story or caricature, and (b) if the group is pandered to by the mainstream media, the media then will go through elaborate contortions and defenses to justify its abdication of duty. At bottom, this is an unacceptable form of not-so-benign bigotry, representing a higher expectation from Christians and Jews than from Muslims.

The authors single out the Boston Globe for its selective defense of the practice of self-censorship…

The Boston Globe, speaking for many other outlets, editorialized: "[N]ewspapers ought to refrain from publishing offensive caricatures of Mohammed in the name of the ultimate Enlightenment value: tolerance."

But as for caricatures depicting Jews in the most medievally horrific stereotypes, or Christians as fanatics on any given issue, the mainstream press seems to hold no such value. And in the matter of disclosing classified information in wartime, the press competes for the scoop when it believes the public interest warrants it.

Rhode Islanders can take pride in the fact that their state's major daily, the Providence Journal, is not a media outlet whom the Globe spoke for. Here is an excerpt from the Projo February 5 editorial on the cartoon controversy…

Well, we dislike disparagement of religious figures, too. Still, in fervently supporting the right to free expression, we do so even when it offends people, including us…

The West's values of freedom of speech and tolerance clash with the totalitarianism of Islamists. In the West, ideas are put to the test of debate; Islamic fundamentalists condemn speech they don't like, and seek to tightly control thought. Unwilling to brook dissent, they see no hypocrisy in raging against insults to Muslims while applauding cartoons that vilify Jews or Christians, of which there are many in the press of Islamic countries.

The West must not cower before such extremists. We must continue to respect and defend the rights of the individual. This is a culture war worth fighting.