The Conscience of Democracy: When Campus Voices Fall Silent
For FAIR’s Substack, FAIR Executive Director Monica Harris writes about why the assault on campus free speech threatens the very foundation of American democracy.
The conscience of democracy lies not in ideological purity, but rather in our courage to engage with ideas that challenge us, in seeking truth through dialogue rather than decree, and in recognizing that our opponents might occasionally be right. The conscience of democracy depends on voices willing to speak uncomfortable truths. When those voices fall silent—whether through violence, censorship, or self-imposed conformity—democracy, itself, begins to die.
Two versions of Christianity battle for America’s soul
For The Washington Post, FAIR Advisor Shadi Hamid writes about the competing versions of Christianity on the American right.
Some interpretations might be more correct than others, but there’s no way to resolve such questions of political theology before the second coming, when presumably Jesus will clarify his true intent, as both Christians and Muslims believe he will. Until then, this is not a divide that dialogue can easily bridge, because it’s not just about biblical interpretation — it’s about the nature of political engagement itself. Can Christian love be politically effective or does politics require the kind of strategic enmity that Trump embraces? Can you simultaneously bless your enemies while viewing them as evil forces who require nothing short of total defeat?
Why YouTube caving to Trump is cowardly
For FIRE’s Newsdesk, FAIR chairman of the board Angel Eduardo writes about how companies and institutions have traded principle for profit and short-term peace of mind.
However, if Trump and his fellow plaintiffs are arguing that the Biden administration jawboned YouTube, they’re suing the wrong people. While jawboning is a violation of the First Amendment, it doesn’t magically transform the coerced party into a government actor. It certainly doesn’t cause a private company to lose its own First Amendment rights. There are multiple tests for when a private person or entity becomes a state actor, but in order to justify this claim in this context, the complainants would have to show concerted action — in other words, the platform consciously acted as the government. The allegation that the platform sometimes gave into government pressure doesn’t satisfy that standard.
How Simone de Beauvoir got me cancelled
For UnHerd, Susan Pickard writes about how her book deal was cancelled for wrong think.
In the past, I kept my feelings to myself, wary of complaint. At conferences, I heard how Beauvoir’s emphasis on freedom and authenticity meant that she would definitely support trans identities. When I reminded my fellow academics that Beauvoir explicitly said: “No woman can claim without bad faith to be situated beyond her sex,” they looked away in embarrassment, and muttered that Beauvoir was being “weaponized by TERFs in the service of transphobia.”
To deny the female body is to dissolve womanhood into the ether. That is why Beauvoir is awkward today. She insisted that women are animals — embodied, vulnerable, enduring — not cartoons, cyborgs, or avatars.
The Right Must Stand for Free Speech
For Compact Magazine, Gregory Conti writes about why conservatives should not respond to the death of one of their most successful activists by doing a poor imitation of progressive censoriousness.
The right has little to gain by a tit-for-tat war. For one thing, it’s pure speculation that censorship and persecution from the right will restore a just appreciation for free speech, rather than simply intensifying the degradation of these norms and leaving both parties feeling that they must strike their critics with full force whenever they have the chance lest they play the patsy. And there is considerable harm to be done to the right if it leaves behind adherence to free speech now. On this issue, purity and pragmatism are united. Best to go straight to the point, and start protecting free speech for all.
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