Media needs to exercise free speech more wisely

People always parrot the words "free speech," but if you ask people to explain what exactly this concept entails, they will often give you a blank look.

Freedom of speech is so vague.

If you and I both have freedom of speech, then why have so many people been sent to jail for merely pointing out injustices done against them? Just look at Guantanamo Bay and other political prisons around the world.

There are either good or bad consequences to every word spoken. And with every so-called "freedom," it's up to us not to abuse it.

On Wednesday, The Daily Reveille columnist Daniel Lumetta wrote "… current demographic trends favor the bad guys, and abortion is a major part of the problem. Most of the Western world maintains a reproduction rate at or below the 'sub-replacement fertility level,' while Muslims procreate much faster."

I cannot think of a worse way to abuse the concept of freedom of speech than for someone to say something this bigoted.

Lumetta made no attempt to hide his prejudice in saying Muslims were the "bad guys," and it was a tragedy that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world.

The bad news is not that there are more Muslims being born - the bad news is there are people who chose to mislead others into a world of darkness and ignorance.

The media have a responsibility to their audiences. Worldviews are shaped by the media, which is why the concept of freedom of speech is especially important and applicable to journalism.

Lumetta also noted "Western culture, and specifically American culture, is superior to all others. This may be ethnocentric, but it is true nonetheless."

This view usually emanates from people who have not traveled very much and have not seen different cultures for themselves.

Free speech comes with a cost.

Hitler used words to convince his followers that Jews were inferior to any other race in the world. President Bush used them to convince people to occupy Iraq.

Last week, some newspapers in Denmark decided to reprint the blasphemous cartoons of the prophet Muhammad - and they defend it based on "freedom of speech."

But the root of the problem is that American society sees such a threat from a religion whose only goal is to worship one God alone. Why else would Lumetta see a growing Muslim population as a threat?

Lumetta wrote, "With nearly three million Muslims living in England, there is no way to tell how many are extremists."

There are more than seven million Muslims living in the United States, and there is no telling how many bigots there are right now with this same mentality.

Everyone loves to talk about how wonderful freedom of speech is. But who out there is brave enough to talk about its ill effects on society?

In Islam, we are held accountable for everything we say. We believe all sins are forgivable except for one sin. This sin is not murder, it is not theft, it is an utterance or lack of utterance of the tongue.

Muslims believe if you pray or call out to a god other than Allah, then this takes a person out of the fold of Islam, and if one dies in this state, they pay the ultimate price of going to hellfire.

I'm not one to sugarcoat anything.

People ask me all the time, "Do Muslims believe that Christians will go to heaven?"

Just as some Christians don't believe Muslims go to heaven, some Muslims don't believe anyone but Muslims go to paradise.

This concept exists in a lot of religions. If I don't worship Jesus or say that he is my savior instead of a prophet of God, then am I not condemned to hell by Christians?

So how then can people tell me that speech is free?

Don't get me wrong; I value the concept of free speech tremendously. Because of this concept, I'm able to write my views that otherwise would be silenced in this paper.

But we need to be responsible in every freedom we are given. This is especially true for those working in the media.

Sometimes the best form of speech or communication is to know when to not speak at all. If you are not knowledgeable about the subject you are speaking of, it's better to not speak at all.

Saying American culture is superior to all other cultures without actually experiencing even just a couple of other cultures is an abuse of freedom - and perhaps an even bigger abuse to society at large by instilling these views into the public.

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Contact Shirien Elmasraya at selmasraya@lsureveille.com