Why hateful speech hurts society

I thought the short discussion we had on hateful speech in class was the most interesting. I have always disliked hateful speech because of the rifts it can cause in society. I came across a couple articles online that I found interesting. The washingtonpost.com wrote a story on the Westboro Baptist church and their protests against military funerals.

The article reads that we as Americans tend to “wish for less of something that the First Amendment protects. Less hateful speech. One noisy protest group.” (Gene Policinski). One particular noisy protest group that has become a house hold name is the Westboro Baptist church. Their anti gay speech and military funeral protests have sparked controversy across the nation. The first amendment protects their “hateful speech” as the Supreme Court ruled. Robert Barnes a Washington Post Staff writes

“Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote that the Westboro Baptist Church’s picketing at fallen soldiers’ funerals ‘is certainly hurtful and its contribution to public discourse may be negligible.’ But he said the reaction may not be ‘punishing the speaker’. As a nation we have chosen a different course – to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”

So even though their speech is hurtful and some Americans probably wish that they could be stopped, the ruling shows that the Westboro church is able and free to continue their “hateful speech”. While their type of speech is not smiled upon, if we as a country limited their speech because we do not like it; who else’s speech would we be able to silence just because we do not like it?

            Gene Policinski of FirstAmendmentCenter.org writes after  the Boston Marathon Bombing “the just – released 2013 State of the First Amendment Survey by the First Amendment Center gives us reason to worry about the future because of a repeating threat to our core freedoms: fear.” The report showed that “In this year’s survey, conducted in May – about a month after the Boston Marathon bombing – 34% of Americans said the first Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees, up to 21 points from the 13% recorded in the 2012 survey.” 

            As in the example with the Westboro Baptist church we can not alter the first amendment to suit our needs for whatever circumstance we are facing. If America changes this Amendment every time there is a crisis, who is to say it will ever go back to normal? In the words Benjamin Franklin “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”