The cringe test

I'l admit that I'm more than a little amazed at the hullabaloo that surrounded Juan Williams' remarks about being afraid of Muslims in "Muslim garb" (whatever that is...) on planes, and his subsequent firing. Actually, what really amazed me was how little was said about his remarks before NPR decided to fire him for them. The outrage, it seems, is less about his seriously troubling remark and more about NPR's "intolerance".  Yes, the world 'intolerance' has been tossed about quite a bit these past couple of days, and most of it with reference to NPR.  Check out these headlines: "NPR's Taxpayer-Funded Intolerance" [WSJ, Oct 22]; "NPRs Intolerant Funding of Juan Williams" [The Examiner, Washington, Oct 21]; "a Brief History of NPR's Intolerance" [foxmews.com, Oct 21]. 

And of course, the whole "free-speech" argument is made.  And this is what makes it all so tricky. Should Williams have been fired for exercising his freedom of speech?  Now, there are a couple of points I want to make in this regard. One, is that while we all are awarded the freedom of speech here, I do think that as with most freedoms, this one too comes with certain responsibilities.  And if we occupy a position where our opinion is heard, considered and given more value than that of the average schmoe, it is doubly incumbent upon us to exercise this freedom with some thought and restraint.  Two, we may be free to say what we want, but we are not guaranteed freedom from every consequence of what we say.  So, really, we ought to think more before we speak. Free speech is so much more valuable when it is thought-provoking, rather than being merely provocative. In this world of tweets and sound-bites, considered speech seems to have taken a back seat to merely free speech.  And our lives are not the better for it. 

But if still in doubt, then I strongly recommend putting the rhetoric in question through the "Cringe Test".  Here's how it works:  replace the word 'Muslim' (or whatever other ethnic, religious, political category is currently under scrutiny) with the word 'Jew' or 'Black man/woman'.  If the resulting statement makes you cringe, then it's probably not as acceptable as folks would have you believe.  Try it.

On a side note, the best response I have encountered to this whole fracas has been the site, "Pictures of Muslims Wearing Things."