“In fact, speech deemed ‘offensive’ is often the speech that needs to be protected most,” writes Amy Lutz in an article about Muslim students protesting the University of Missouri’s screening of the film American Sniper. Lutz notes that while the Islamic activists argue that their opposition to the film’s screening on campus has to do with opposing violent movies, “[i]ronically, Mizzou will be hosting a screening of Fight Club, which is not short on graphic violence, on April 10th, and no similar protest has arisen.”
“Banning ‘offensive’ speech (sometimes read: conservative) won’t make students ‘feel safe.’ Rather, it will make them wholly unprepared to interact with the world after they leave their ‘inclusive’ campuses.”
Read more here: http://www.yaf.org/mizzou-american-sniper.aspx
College is supposed to be a haven of free thought and criticism and research. It is counterintuitive to treat it as a place wherein the first priority is to make people feel comfortable.
