The freedom to offend in the pursuit of truth
Publication Details
Sakr, J. M.
(2019).
The freedom to offend in the pursuit of truth.
Western Australian Jurist, 10, 135-155.
Abstract
Being ‘offended’ has become the foundation by which warrants prosecution. This benchmark impacts one’s ability to think, as Dr Jordan B Peterson argues, ‘in order to be able to think, you have to risk being offensive’. Reasoning requires one to critique and assess the propositions put forward in the hope of reaching a conclusion that satisfies one's intellect. Unfortunately, this truth quest has the inevitable impact of ‘offending’ others that hold to a paradoxical ideology. If being ‘offended’ is legal justification for crying ‘victim’ of ‘hate speech’ and ‘vilification’, then this will have a ‘chilling effect’ on free speech. Christians have been affected by legislation that rests upon the subjective grounds of human emotion. This article provides numerous examples and concludes that Christians are persecuted in Australia.
Keywords
freedom of speech, legal justification, offending others, persecution, Christians, Australia
Link to Publisher Version (URL)
https://walta.net.au/vol10/freedom-to-offend-in-the-pursuit-of-truth/
