Free Speech Is Not A Free Ride
So, a funny thing happened a few months back. In my own little way, I contributed to this country’s disturbing trend towards shutting down freedom of speech. Or something.
Here’s how the story begins. You’ve probably heard of Lord Monckton. Don’t get sidetracked by the whole thing about the title. Just make sure we’re thinking of the same guy. Tours the world; talks about climate change myths and one world government and stuff; a bit like a British anti-Al Gore.
Well, he was coming to Australia for another speaking tour. And someone who I knew online sent me a message. Some ivory tower types had prepared an open letter, asking the University of Notre Dame to reconsider their invitation for Monckton to speak on campus. Would I co-sign it?
My academic area isn’t climate science. My research and teaching work is in psychology — but as a blogger, first on my own site and then for Crikey, I had covered issues about climate change and I was familiar with the public debate and its main participants, including Monckton.
I thought about it for a while. I passed the link along to a few people for them to think about as well. And then I made my mind up, and I added my name to the letter.
This letter wasn’t exactly massive national news. But it did get some mainstream media coverage. It generated some opinion articles. It drew a response from some prominent academic leaders. And, on the other hand, it gave some ammunition to our local community of so-called climate sceptics, who bundled it into their conspiracy theories.
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