My thoughts on Free Speech

We can all stand in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo and still believe in censorship or not. Washington Post seems to be jealous of Huffington Post's increase in popularity and will publish any drivel, click-bait bs for people with a high-school level understanding of free speech.

Because if people like the author did actually believe in free speech, they would see that one's decision to censor is also a part of free speech--the ability to decide what you will not say. He is under no obligation to publish offensive cartoons. And before the last publication, the cartoons were offensive and therefore, if someone wants to choose to not publish it, they have the right to do so. I stand with Charlie in that he did not deserve to have his life threatened and taken. I stand with Charlie in that he had every right to be as offensive as he wanted to. But I disagree with his decision to incite and offend others.

If saying "Je Suis Charlie" means you must wholly agree with Mr. Hebdo, then we have not understood the beautiful complexities in free speech that the editors of the magazine discussed during the final publication. Free speech goes both ways and yes, does have limits. We can discuss these limits but let's stop pretending to champion free speech without considering the consequences and complexities of words. Why so many people don't understand this is sad.