Venomous pens are better than bloody swords
Of course, there are many insidious ways whereby freedom of expression can be denied, curtailed or compromised, and it is indeed salutary that we are reminded of some of them.
It hardly needs to be stated that freedom of expression must be restricted in the interests of other more fundamental or equally important freedoms.
That is why we have laws against libel and defamation, laws against incitement to crime, laws against the leaking of insider trading information, to name but some of the acceptable ways in which our right to freedom of expression is curtailed.
Nobody in this current debate is advocating that freedom of speech be absolute. What is being defended is the right to express political and other opinions within the framework of existing safeguards.
Ridicule has always been a weapon in political debate in the public forum, and it can be a very effective one, too. Venomous pens are far preferable to bloody swords when it comes to driving home a point which somehow eludes calm, rational debate.
Ms Prone is quite correct in stating that some visual satire (which may include the cartoons in question) are “unfunny” and “without value”.
The problem is how are we going to decide which measure up to her or anybody else’s subjective standard of what is or is not a fit subject for publication - it is simply not possible to draw a line based on subjective evaluation.
Is the yardstick going to be the likelihood or not of violent protest following a proposed publication? We must caution here that it is not only visual representation of the Prophet that offends many Muslims.
Any writers, including Muslim writers, can be subject to a fatwa for simply criticising the practices and beliefs of Islam. To advocate such a yardstick would be to imply that it is okay to offend people’s ideological sensibilities provided they are not likely to get too stroppy as a result. Surely a rather shaky value on which to base editorial policy. Finally, with regard to freedom of speech as a modern construct, I would have thought that it goes all the way back to the Roman Forum.
Margaret Hickey
21 Castleowen
Blarney
Co Cork
