Dude, you have no Quran!

Freedom of speech is one of our most viciously guarded constitutional liberties. It is also our most misused and abused freedoms. Common sense tells us that saying whatever we want all the time is a bad idea, like yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater, but what about some of the more controversial and inflammatory statements made by public figures? Should the constitution protect the right for hate mongers to spread discord through our fair country; to preach hate and violence and intolerance in our land founded upon the principles of religious freedom and tolerance. We have government watch lists full of Islamic extremists, but who is keeping an eye on the increasing number of conservative extremists flinging fear and hate hiding behind a bible? At what point do we as a nation say "Enough is enough!" and use a little common sense when protecting free speech? That is exactly the question being asked in this post from the Time website.

How Should America Handle Extreme Speech?

As an English major/aspiring writer, I support free speech as much as anyone. However, I refuse to believe that our Founding Fathers intended for the United States Constitution to allow these extremists to openly hurl verbal attacks at another religious group. The constitution allows for the separation of church and state, the right to peaceably assemble, and the right to speak our minds. But where does the constitution make allowances for those preaching intolerance to stand in a park, built with public funds, and openly burn the sacred religious texts of another belief system? Can you say it is not the governments place to interfere when one religion openly wishes harm on another religion? Or when white supremacists march through a city preaching hate of other races and ethnicities? If, as the law of the land states, all men are created free and equal, how can we as a nation continue to stand for the mistreatment of our brothers and sisters by these men and women with their words of hate and oppression?

If everybody has a right to free speech, lets start using ours to drown out the voices of the spiteful and intolerant extremists befouling the air in this country we call ours.