We, the people . . . ? Which people?
Freedom of expression is not a universal value.
When Thomas Jefferson penned the opening verse of the Declaration of Independence, it was no coincidence that he chose the pronoun “We.”
“We hold these truths to be self-evident.”
We, the people in the Continental Congress who are choosing to embark on a war for freedom.
We, the spiritual descendants of those original freedom fighters.
We, Americans and other proponents of these “self-evident truths.”
Not we, the human race.
Despite what the Enlightenment philosophers would have us believe, there are no universal values and no self-evident truths. Not yet, anyway.
There are personal and social values, hard fought and hard won.
That’s why we have the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
The attack on Charlie Hebdo, like the violent demonstrations that erupted after Denmark’s Jyllands Posten newspaper published cartoons of Mohammed deemed blasphemous, demonstrate just how un-universal the value of freedom of expression are.
Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, are not universal values.
They are values that have been cultivated over generations in specific societies built on specific . . . values.
The values of rational thought. Reason. Liberty.
For zealots, rational thinking is the antithesis of their values. Freedom as a concept in and of itself is not their value, so why should freedom of expression be one?
This isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card for Islamist terrorists.
It’s a reminder to those who do hold freedom dear, who value freedom of expression as the cornerstone of an enlightened society, that these freedoms must be protected and defended.
Freedom of speech is not self-evident.
Not universally embraced.
Which is why, around the world, those who do embrace freedom of expression, say, Je Suis Charlie.
Copyright © 2015 by the Intermountain Jewish News
