Is Freedom of Speech Still Free? What is happening in America?
With the rising concerns of speech on college campuses, among other environments, one startling question arises: Is speech still free? On college campuses, it used to be the professors that limited the free exercise of speech. Today, we are seeing a surprisingly different reality. There is a rising concern about “feeling safe” on college campuses. Now, we are witnessing the students speaking out against speech deemed “offensive” and limiting such speech from others.
CBN is reporting that ‘In the last 20 years, such sentiment has led more than 400 universities to adopt speech codes. The problem, they consistently violate the first amendment, shutting down so called “offensive speech” or “writing” in the name of respect.’ University of Chicago professor, Geoffrey Stone expresses his sentiment, “they (students) shouldn’t be put into positions that make them feel uncomfortable”. Our world is changing before our very eyes. How are we preparing the future leaders of tomorrow when we are raising them in an environment that is beginning to literally hinder, and even stop, critical thinking?
When we consider what is deemed “hate speech” or ask, ‘who is the one to decide what or what is not ‘hate speech’, we realize that we may be in danger of losing free speech. Prager University continues to raise the concern, “the threat is not coming without, from external enemies, but from within. A generation is being raised NOT to believe in freedom OF speech, but rather that they should have freedom FROM speech; from speech they dislike.” This is in direct contradiction to the very reason that we send our children to colleges and universities. Currently, “54% of public universities and 59% of private universities impose politically correct speech codes on their students and thanks to recent Department of Education guidelines, 100% of colleges may adopt speech codes in the coming years.” This is alarming!
There appears to be a directed focus on this as well, anything that speaks out in favor, or in the name, of God. When prayers were offered and expressed as response to the shooting in San Bernardino, California. New York’s Daily News ran a front cover ad reading, “GOD ISN’T FIXING THIS”. A group of students from East Catholic High School, in Manchester, CT, have responded by creating their own video calling out against ‘prayer shaming’.
As the Church, it is important to remember that our answer is to fall at the feet of Jesus. God didn’t call us to be popular, but to simply follow him. Many have spoken out at the first mention of stricter gun laws. Do we recognize the repeated onslaught on the Church’s number one weapon, our voices? 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 reminds us, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” Are we utilizing the power of our voices that God has given each of us, to its fullest extent? These are urgent times. Watch the full report to see what is taking place, the crucial response, and so much more. Also shared in this segment: Halloween costumes, Yale, University of North Carolina Wilmington, University of Chicago, daycare, entitlements, Attorney General, politically correct, spiritual warfare, and prayer. John, Greg and Steve shared in this segment. 
