Don't fear to express yourself

Don't fear to express yourself
Sat 01 Sep. 2012, 10:12 CAT

We all have a duty to speak out when something is wrong. We shouldn't be silent when things are not going well. Our ability and willingness to speak out when things are wrong, when things are not going well, is the lifeblood of our country.

Mankind's ability to speak out, to speak up is the bedrock of civilisation. And on this score, the Gospel according to John is very instructive: "Before the world was created, the Word already existed; he was with God, and he was the same as God. From the very beginning, the Word was with God. Through him, God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out" (1 John 1-5).

Clearly, everything begins with the word, with our ability to express ourselves, to speak out. Freedom of speech and expression is the lifeblood of any democracy. To debate and vote, to assemble and protest, to worship, to ensure justice for all - these all rely upon the unrestricted flow of speech and information.

Clearly, democracy is communication: people talking to one another about their common problems and forging a common destiny. Before people can govern themselves, they must be free to express themselves.

Citizens of a democracy live with a conviction that through the open exchange of ideas and opinions, truth will eventually win out over falsehood, the values of others will be better understood, areas of compromise more clearly defined, and the path of progress opened. The greater the volume of such exchanges, the better.

Democracy depends upon a literate, knowledgeable citizenry, whose access to the broadest possible range of opinions and information enables them to participate as fully as possible in the public life of their society. Ignorance breeds apathy. Democracy thrives upon the energy of citizens who are sustained by the unimpeded flow of ideas, data, opinions and speculation.
But we also know that not all ideas that are propagated are good, correct and acceptable. Some of them are blatant lies, harmful speculation and propaganda and an abuse of the freedom of speech.

But what should the government do in cases where freedom of speech is abused with information that, in the opinion of the majority, is false, repugnant, irresponsible or simply in bad taste? The answer, by and large, is nothing. It is simply not the business of government to judge such matters. In general, the cure of free speech is more free speech. It may seem a paradox, but in the name of free speech, a democracy must sometimes defend the rights of individuals and groups who themselves advocate such non-democratic policies as repressing free speech.

Citizens in a democratic society defend this right out of the conviction that, in the end, open debate will lead to greater truth and wiser public actions than if speech and dissent are stifled.

Furthermore, the advocates of free speech argue, the suppression of speech that I find offensive today is potentially a threat to my exercise of free speech tomorrow - which perhaps you or someone else might find offensive. One of the classic defences of this view is that all people are harmed when speech is repressed. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth, if wrong, they lose the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth produced by its collision with error.
We believe that the strength of a democracy lies in the involvement of people in their own governance. As such, participation is a key component of any democracy.

We also believe that participatory governance generates an environment where matters of abuse of power, corruption and such other social evils could be controlled and even overcome. Through checks and balances, mechanisms that curb any abuses, through the separation of power among political structures, could be put in place. Through this separation of power, political structures are able to restrict each other's political discretion, whereby none of them is overly powerful and uncontrollable.

It is necessary that we all participate in the governance of our country according to our position and role, in promoting the common good.
No one should be afraid to speak out their minds. And as Nelson Mandela advised, "men must follow the dictates of their consciences irrespective of the consequences which might overtake them for it".

And as Fr Gabriel Msipu correctly observes, we all have a special mandate to help each other and to alert those in authority and make them know what is happening in certain places which sometimes they cannot visit at all. For this reason, no one should be afraid to express themselves and become tight-lipped because of fear.

We cannot deny that there is a growing culture of intolerance in our politics. And intolerance is not limited only to those in government. It is something that one sees even in our opposition political parties. You dare to challenge some of the top leaders of our opposition political parties and see what happens to your membership, to your position in the party! Freedom of expression is suppressed in many of our political organisations. It is even suppressed in the church. Dissenting voices are rarely tolerated in our political parties and in our churches. Dissent is equally not tolerated in our traditional institutions. Oppose some of our chiefs and see what happens to you!
But for as long as legitimate bodies of opinion feel stifled, vile minds will take advantage of justifiable grievances to destroy, to kill and to maim.
Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. And to deny any person their human rights, their freedom of expression is to challenge their very humanity.

We all know that some of this intolerance is the result of fear. And fear arises when we view everyone else with suspicion. And as we all know, the route of all problems is anger, attachment, jealousy, hatred. These are the real enemy. And there is one enemy who is always an enemy, with whom we should never compromise; that is the enemy inside your heart. You cannot change all these bad thoughts in your friend. But you have to confront and control them.
Some people turn very negative when things are not going their way. But negativity is never the solution. Anger, jealousy, impatience and hatred are the real trouble makers; with them, problems can never be solved. Though one may have temporary success, ultimately one's hatred or anger will create further difficulties.

No good ever came of anger. Anger may seem to offer an energetic way of getting things done, but a perception of the world is misguided. The only certainty about anger and hatred is that they are destructive.

And we think that anger can be of two type: hatred with ill-feeling is one while another anger - with compassion as the basis of concern - may be positive.
There is need to keep anger in check. Usually people consider that anger is part of the mind, and that it is better to show it, to let it come out. We think that is a wrong conception. Resentment because of grievances may be let out, because then it is finished. Constant anger - that, we think, it is better to check. Hatred cannot be overcome by hatred. Hatred will only regenerate more problems. If we live our lives continually motivated by anger and hatred, even our physical health deteriorates. If you succeed through violence at the expense of others' rights and welfare, you have not solved the problem, but only created the seeds of another. Tolerance and patience with courage are not signs of failure but signs of victory. Actually, if you are too important, that's a real failure. We shouldn't forget that one's own actions create one's life situation.

And as Mandela aptly put it, "anger is a temporary feeling - you soon forget it, particularly if you are involved in positive activities and attitudes. It is not easy to remain bitter if one is busy with constructive things".