But seriously… the Kilroy thing annoyed me in one particular way. It’s not the first time he’s made seriously prejudiced comments in the press, but so what? A failed MP, low-grade journalist and irrelevant daytime TV presenter? No biggie. The annoying thing is the impassioned defence of “Free Speech” which has blown up in the aftermath of Kilroy’s comments.
Freedom of speech is a privilege that we enjoy here in non-totalitarian society. We can question our government’s policies in a public forum, complain about poor service in a shop, declare allegiance to a religion other than the Church of England or publish our opinions in a weblog. So it’s funny how the magic words “Freedom of Speech” are most frequently uttered as an addendum to some bold statement of mindless prejudice, isn’t it? Methinks the bigot doth protest too much.
It’s a bit like when people say “No offence, but…”, followed by something utterly offensive; as if uttering the incantation absolves the user of any of the responsibility which goes with the right to free speech. And of course, the people who seem to make the most noise about their freedom of speech (just think about the newspaper where Kilroy aired his views) tend to be the ones who champion censorship, mistrust intellectuals and judge according to restrictive and contradictory standards of “decency”.