With the recent Boston
Marathon bombings before a claim of responsibility has been issued, before a
finger of blame has been raised the conspiracy theories have already come to
the fore. They are annoying, they are offensive and yet in the end by their
very existence they prove themselves wrong.
For only in a truly free and open society can things like 9/11
conspiracy theories be expressed without fear of repercussion. The real truth
is that if the proponents of such theories were to voice their opinions or post
their beliefs and supporting links on their facebook accounts contrary to the
official line in the countries that oppose us(provided they were even legally
permitted to have a facebook account) they would be arrested, jailed, tortured
and possibly executed as an enemy of the state.
The true irony of a liberal society is that by allowing the free flow of information governments generate less trust among their population than they do in those societies where the State controls everything you’re allowed to hear.The fact that a 9/11 “truther” is able to freely and openly accuse their own government of mass murder and do so without repercussions, without having to be cross examined or forced to defend such libel before the courts is the greatest testament to the falseness of their beliefs. It is the greatest argument that though by no means perfect or blameless, western democracies founded on Judeo –Christian values are the strong hand a grasping world reaches to in good times and in bad.
Were they to make the same type of accusations towards an individual citizen as they do their own government a9/11 conspiracy theorist could be sued, forced to present their evidence in court and be subject to cross examination. No such defense exists – nor should it – for governments. The truther’s are the ultimate school yard bullies, free to hurl accusations of murder and deceit, yet safely protected by the laws of the very society they so fiercely condemn. We should both pity their ignorance and scorn them as cowards.
The true irony of a liberal society is that by allowing the free flow of information governments generate less trust among their population than they do in those societies where the State controls everything you’re allowed to hear.The fact that a 9/11 “truther” is able to freely and openly accuse their own government of mass murder and do so without repercussions, without having to be cross examined or forced to defend such libel before the courts is the greatest testament to the falseness of their beliefs. It is the greatest argument that though by no means perfect or blameless, western democracies founded on Judeo –Christian values are the strong hand a grasping world reaches to in good times and in bad.
Were they to make the same type of accusations towards an individual citizen as they do their own government a9/11 conspiracy theorist could be sued, forced to present their evidence in court and be subject to cross examination. No such defense exists – nor should it – for governments. The truther’s are the ultimate school yard bullies, free to hurl accusations of murder and deceit, yet safely protected by the laws of the very society they so fiercely condemn. We should both pity their ignorance and scorn them as cowards.
Purveyors
of 9/11 conspiracy theories, holocaust deniers and flat earther’s are rebels at
heart. Often celebrated in popular culture, they are given an open forum by
society and receive free distribution of their views by the media they so
rabidly condemn as government pawns. These individuals waste whatever talents
they may have tilting at phantom windmills, kicking sand in the face of the
only societies on the planet that allow the free expression of dissent.
The
answer truly is not to silence them or their ideas, rather it is through the understanding
that by encouraging the tolerance of free and open expression of opinion;
thoughtful, rational, offensive, outlandish or just plain crazy we prove wrong
those who believe that dissent is controlled, free speech is suppressed and as
citizens we are but cogs in a diabolical machine.
The curtain is easily drawn and there are many means for us to see behind it, yet for far too many it’s easier to conjure nightmares than to peak through with free and open eyes.
The curtain is easily drawn and there are many means for us to see behind it, yet for far too many it’s easier to conjure nightmares than to peak through with free and open eyes.
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