Free speech and opinion- not tolerated today?

Cliff

It appears that unless one is in line with the current 'PC' thinking on a particular issue you views are considered 'obnoxious' , and will be treated with maximum hostility?

Recently we saw Germaine Greer say something which was deemed totally unacceptable about trans-gender people. Her speaking engagement at a University was subsequently cancelled even though it was on a totally different subject. Universities should be open to debate and discussion.

Tom Jones made some remark about his first experiences in London in the '60s where he met many homosexuals in the entertainment business.

Not so much interested in whether we agree or not with the opinions, but I do believe people should be allowed to to talk freely, without being harassed.

Why is tolerance becoming a thing of the past?

Even old Vince Cable had a few words on the subject.
Greer ban at university 'is to seem fair to Muslims', says Vince Cable

Iain42

It seems tolerance is only allowed now, if it coincides with what is deemed politically correct.

You don't need to agree with something, or what someone represents, but you can still be perfectly polite about it and respect differences. We are all different, and it is time the pc brigade realised that.

robel

Free speech more often that not these days, descends in to hate speech, racism, incitement to violence and the ultimate result, murder....

EarthRod

Germaine Greer has always had strong opinions, sometimes extreme opinions, which she is quite happy to voice. Since her Cambridge university days in the 1960s (doctorate?) she has 'upset' people with her forceful rhetoric.

Sign of the times that Victorian intolerance is coming back into vogue. I'm not concerned because free speech will continue - just not so obvious and without the 1960s hard-hitting in-ya-face blatancy. The style that Germaine Greer seems so familiar with.

js58

Whenever this topic is discussed I'm always reminded of James Watson selling his Nobel Prize. It's shameful. It makes me wonder just how many ideas have been silenced for the sake of not causing offence.

I used to pass by a health centre that specialised in the treatment of sickle cell and thalassaemia on my way to school. Painted on the side of the building were pictures of the kind of people most at risk: people from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. What effect would today's political correctness have had on the researchers of these diseases? That's what worries me the most.

Some people would rather we have politically correct ignorance than run the risk of upsetting anyone.

Ed Selley

It rarely becomes any of these things. The inability to express an idea is more dangerous as without debate it gains a credibility denied it if it is freely contested. When Nick Griffin was no platformed, the BNP was at its Zenith. After his appearance (and dismantling) on Question Time, the BNP's fortunes declined to the point where they are insolvent and effectively extinct.

The offendotrons currently railing at Greer ought to take a look at her contributions to modern feminism and culture and then back at their own. Then they should quietly and calmly grow up.

EarthRod

... On the other hand, it's not what you do but the way that you do it.

For example, your post starts by suggesting that debate is a good thing but then follows by saying that people who hold an alternative opinion (the offendotrons) should sod off.

Ed Selley

They are welcome to freely express their opinions- I deliberately said "sod off" not "shut up." This current practise of 'No platforming' is a policy exclusively employed by people too thick, lazy or entitled to actually justify their opinions. If Greer is so wrong, someone who disagrees with her should be able to explain why.

EarthRod

... If people are told to 'sod off' then that amounts to 'no platforming' as they cannot express their opinion in that particular venue.

Enki

Due to Government free speech is lent, this comes in many guises.  Westminster decides for the BBC who it can interview on climate change, lobbying bill etc.  Government sets the manner and tone in which we feel culturally comfortable in expressing our views.

Besides, the University is just looking after their brand and listening and responding to customer concerns.  Universities now are commercial enterprises with brand name; Greer is on firm ground to damage the brand with her appearance and views on Trans-gender.