Wednesday, November 13, 2019
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14, New Living Translation) 

                You gotta love our country, Canada.

 No, not the recent early November snowstorm, but that the worst thing we can get our winter knickers all in a knot over is another ignorant thing that Don Cherry  has said which has gotten him fired from Sportsnet. You would have to be living in a bubble if you don’t know the controversial hubbub that his televised, divisive, prejudicial words about immigrants allegedly not wearing poppies has generated.

                I have never ever been a fan of Cherry. Neither his anachronistic social comments nor his outdated views on hockey appeal to me. But he loves the limelight and adulation that he gets from his die-hard fans. In recent interviews he seems to be almost claiming now that he is the victim in all this even though he threw immigrants, his colleagues, his employer, even his precious armed forces all under the bus, one way or the other.  I don’t think Don is that stupid and he knew exactly what he was going to say and when he was going to say it, at the very end of the TV segment when no one would have a chance at any rebuttal. But the world is passing poor Don by and believing in his own power and status he finally crossed the line and went too far.

                One of the arguments being made in his defence is, of course, his right to free speech. If he had not being working for Sportsnet at the time this might work as a defence. But he is accountable to his employer as any of us would be in our work places. But, for the sake of argument, let’s say that at its lowest common denominator, yours or my right to have an opinion is a part of free speech. We might disagree on an issue but each of us has a right to express our personal point of view. This blog is an example off free speech. I will cede the point.

                But I would like to elevate the concept of free speech beyond just being able to say any darn old thing we feel like.

                Grumpy, ornery, old, white males aside I (and I can be one of them), free speech at its very best comes with responsibility and accountability. Simply put, we should think before we speak and like our mothers taught us, if we haven’t got anything good to say keep it to yourself. We are responsible for our words and the effects our words have on others. I have said and written enough stupid things in my life that I know of what I write. Once those words get out there in public domain, we can’t take them back and our words may have the consequences of hurting, insulting, demeaning or simply being outright wrong. There is an old saying, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."

                Free speech does not entitle us to blind ignorance, abusive language, speaking blatant untruths or making sweeping generalizations and treating them as some sort of “honest”, personalized or patriotic gospel. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29, New International Version) In other words free speech, at its best, is honorable, trustworthy, has integrity and is, therefore, worth listening to.

                Exercising free speech is hard. It should be.  Our words matter.  Great freedoms come with great responsibilities. “The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” (Matthew 12:37, NLT)

                Mark my word! 

Dale