The “Zombie Muhammad” case and the resulting controversy over the exoneration of the Muslim defendant, resulting in a charge that the judge displayed a Muslim bias (Patriot-News, Feb. 28), illustrates a larger — and obvious — lesson about free speech. Exercises of free speech have ethical consequences that the speaker should take into consideration.
The First Amendment protects free speech and the practice of religion. Acts of religious expression, therefore, are fundamental according to the Supreme Court, the broadest protection granted.
But that protection does not absolve the speaker of the individual’s ethical responsibility to gauge the effects of that expression. There is religious zealotry in every religion, including Christianity. If we exercise free speech that offends religious beliefs, it is our responsibility to consider the likely consequences. They can be grave, including injury or death to others.
This does not mean that religious free speech must be severely curtailed by government. However, it does mean that we accept the consequences with the gravity they deserve when we choose to exercise it. Where those consequences outweigh the value of using it, we have the ethical responsibility to be silent, at least for the moment.