Two wonderful ideals that people tend to hold onto. Everyone wants to be free to express themselves and don't like to have their voice be stifled. People want to keep their private thoughts and actions just that...private. However, in today's world both of those wonderful things are just...
Pretty little lies
They just no longer exist no matter how much we may wish or believe otherwise.
How about a couple of examples from the entertainment sphere?
First lets look at Jennifer Lawrence.
Source: Hollywood reporter
She is a well respected and well known actress. She has been in major movie franchies including the X-Men and Hunger Games but has appeared in so much more.
But read the above article and see what happened to her. She had some private pictures taken of her to share with her boyfriend. A hacker decides to get into her phone, steals her pictures, and makes nude pictures of her available on the internet.
Her privacy was stolen
Sure the man who hacked her phone was caught and sentence to 18 months in jail. But the fact remains: Her privacy was violated through no fault of her own.
Second lets look at Hartley Sawyer
Now I loved "The Flash" TV series and I really enjoyed the Elongated man on the series. However, in the show he was there in one season and gone the next. Why? What happened?
Well, if you read the article you will find out. The short version is that Mr. Sawyer who played the Elongated man had made some unfortunate and inappropriate comments towards women on his Twitter account years before playing the role on TV. He deleted the twitter account to delete the posts. However, things still got around on the internet. The producers of the show found out about his prior tweets and he was immediately fired.
Again. It was information he wanted to keep hidden and tried to remove from his past. It just doesn't work though. However, in addition to being unable to keep his past private it shows that people aren't just allowed to speak freely. He spoke freely in what he believed was a joke but the words were out, the damage was done, and a funny actor will likely never work again.
I could find many more examples but I'll state it again.
Privacy and Freedom of Speech are pretty little lies
How about some examples from closer to home
When it comes to freedom of speech I'll share a few examples from my own life.
First. A long time ago I was walking around a nearby park with my wife and a beautiful sunny day. Now there is an excellent jogging path around the park and on this day there was a good looking young lady jogging towards my wife and I. From her appearance it was quite obvious that she had large breasts and was not wearing a bra.
I hope most husbands know what to do in this situation. If you don't know in my experience it is best: (a) Don't stare. Your a guy. You'll notice. Quick glance then look elsewhere. (b) Don't comment. It won't end well so don't say anything.
I guess my wife hadn't learned that lesson. As this jogger is coming closer to us I hear my wife cheerfully blurt out "Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy". I was horrified! This woman was just out to get some exercise. She doesn't need to be made to feel self conscious by people looking at her breasts and she certainly doesn't need to hear people commenting on them.
Yes. My wife was within her rights of free speech to speak her mind.
No. I don't think she should have.
There are dozens of times that people should hold their tongues or at least think carefully about their responses.
Husbands: If you wife asks Does this make me look fat?, Do you like my new haircut, or will you still find me attractive when I'm old, wrinkly, and fat. Choose your words VERY CAREFULLY.
Rule 1: Never Lie to your wife
Rule 2: Don't ignore your wife
Rule 3: Choose your response both quickly and carefully
Sure you may be free to speak but you are also free to sleep in the couch!
Wives: When you are mad at your husband. Yes, it will happen sometime choose your words carefully. Choosing the right words may hep to correct bad behavior. Choosing the wrong words may works only to corrode your marriage. I think you get the same rules as the husband. Don't lie to him. Don't ignore his poor behavior but choose your responses wisely.
....and I could say that same thing about interactions between parents and children.
You may think you have "Free Speech" but in reality the tongue can get people into big trouble!
As a Christian I also have a few views from the bible about Freedom of Speech and Privacy being unrealistic.
Numbers 32:23 in the New Living Translation (NLT): "But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out."
or perhaps this quote
Luke 8:17 (NIV): "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open."
Either way things will be brought to light. Maybe now. Maybe later. Maybe not until after your death. But privacy is not assured in the Bible. Exactly the opposite, your sins will find you out.
But how about free speech?
New Living Translation (NLT): "Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry."
That quote says don't speak hastily and be careful with your words.
James 3:6 in the New Living Translation (NLT): "And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself."
A quote that says that the tongue has the evil of hell set upon it.
I'll take those quotes together to say that the tongue (Speech) should be treated with great care. Hasty words get people in trouble. Meanspirited words can lead to awfulness, bad feelings and worse.
Just look at the Internet. Where "free" speech reigns there are flame wars, hateful words, and general toxicity. One of the best things about Hive is that it is NOT free. You have to spend resource credits to post. You can be downvoted to the point of never being seen again. You lose out on curation rewards if your voice is meanspirited or unacceptable.
Sure you can say whatever you want on Hive. You just have to realize it is not Free there is a Cost even if it is just RC being used up or curation rewards not being given.
Really there can only be one choice for me.
Privacy each and every time
As I've already stated I believe that both are illusions. However I would much rather protect my privacy and protect my right to speak as I wish.
That doesn't answer the question why though.
Well.. Imagine this....
Imagine a world where people were NOT free to speak as they wished. Where mean or hurtful speech was banned. How nice would it be to go out where there weren't snide remarks or hurtful comments. Where the boss only gave useful criticism and praise. Where every person you met was polite.
That would be awesome!
However, what if it was just that you were not able to speak out against views that were unpopular to the government. Again, you would live in a place where there would be unity in purpose. Just look at COVID. If people were all FOR (or AGAINST) the COVID vaccine and masking there would be unity in the population. I believe that Unity and a Cohesive Society are a truly beneficial thing.
As for my private life being private....along with everyone elses? Again NOT knowing what other people are thinking. Not having to hear about the misery and awfulness in other peoples thoughts or doings would actually make people overall happier. If the bad news and unhappy details that come out about other people stayed hidden it would be much easier for me to believe the world is a nice, happy place. I think I'd like that...even if it was a lie.
One last thing about losing my freedom and why I wouldn't mind it much.
IF I lost my freedom of speech and couldn't say just anything I wanted it would force me to consider my words. That aligns with the Bible's viewpoint on speaking slowly. However there may be things that were banned that I would want to speak up about. As an example: If I was in North Korea I would want to speak up about their leader NOT being a God.
What would happen? I would be imprisoned or worse for speaking my mind. I probably still would do it though. Even if the RIGHT of free speech is taken away I can always SPEAK OUT if the need is great enough. I can speak out against anything provided I'm willing to pay the price. Taking away my right to free speech wouldn't keep me from speaking freely. I'd just know the cost up front and so would others.
If I needed to speak up against an atrocity and it cost me my life...then the listeners would know that my words were worth my life...and hopefully be more likely to listen.
Result: I'll choose privacy every single time. I already know my words should be carefully measured. Privacy is far more important to me.
Thanks for reading
and as always, I love getting comments.
