Speech Isn’t Violence — But Cheering Violence Comes Close

We need to see the distinction!

Photo by Tai Bui on Unsplash

I recently wrote that speech is not violence. That remains true. Words, however offensive, are not punches, bullets, or blades.

But…

There is a category of speech that skirts close to violence, and that is when people call for it, celebrate it, or endorse it.

The Supreme Court clarified this line in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969). They ruled that speech that incites “imminent lawless action” can lose its First Amendment protection. In other words, saying you disagree with Senator so-and-so’s politics is protected. Calling for a mob to burn down the senator’s house is not.

That line matters. Because right now, we live in a culture that blurs it on purpose.

Some cheerleaders of outrage want to argue that if celebrating violence is wrong, then policy disagreements are also a form of “violence.”

For example, they say that questioning gender surgeries for minors, or debating safety rules around bathrooms or sports, is equivalent to erasing people’s existence.

That is a dishonest conflation.

It’s like saying that calling for welfare reform is violence against welfare recipients. Come to think of it…some…