Dear Editor,
Reading the response to the controversial Jon Qwelane column, I am struck by the general approach by South Africans to the airing of views which are at odds with another's.
There is a sacred concept of a free country and that is free speech. Whether you disagree or are offended by someone else's opinions is, to my mind, immaterial.
There is always the rider that free speech should never cross the boundary into incitement to cause harm. Offense though, is something entirely different. Causing offense should never be a criterion of whether someone may express an opinion or not.
JQ's column caused offense, as did David Bullard's, but so what? Instead of ridiculous moral posturing and calls for his head, his detractors should take him on and defeat him with argument. Silencing the voice is not the answer and can never be.
Expressing these types of opinions brings the subject into the open where it can be dealt with, instead of being left to simmer in whispered conversations and leading to unintended consequences.
People need to talk, uncomfortable opinions must be confronted or else we will live in a fool's paradise. Healthy democracies are marked by exceptional free speech where even the disgusting and diabolical may freely opine.
What SA needs is to grow a bit of back-bone, stick our chins out and be willing to go toe-to-toe instead of running to the principal like spoilt brats. No country can afford to lock any opinion away and pretend all is well.
Let them speak or be damned.
Zookeeper
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