On Freedom of Speech

Now I'm not typically one to judge people for being wrong.

Except for all the times I judge people for being wrong.

But we need to have a little conversation about First Amendment rights.  Because you've probably heard about Phil Robertson (the dude with the beard on Duck Dynasty. No not that dude with the beard, the other dude with the beard).

That dude with the beard.

He made some comments about the Bible and TEH GAYS and TEH BLACKS and lots of people got really offended.  We're not going to talk about that part because my thoughts on people who make offensive racist/homophobic comments are pretty well known.  But then A&E put him on indefinite suspension for those comments and lots of other people got offended.  Because FREE SPEECH.

Now, I don't pretend to be a Constitution expert, except insofar as I spend most of my time following politics pretty closely and carry a Pocket Constitution in my backpack like the BAMF that I am.  But we need to have a discussion for anyone who thinks your First Amendment right protects you from being fired.

We can talk about the nebulous philosophical concept of freedom of speech, if you'd like, in another post.  There is a comment section for a reason.  But right now, we're going to talk about Freedom of Speech as it is outlined in the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  This right protects you from the Federal government revoking your established right to freedom of speech.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

That's a precise quote, if you're at all curious.  The freedom of speech protected in the Constitution is a political right, not a philosophical right.  So, unless your employer happens to be the United States Government, you don't get to go yelling about First Amendment Rights when they tell you you're not allowed to say it.

In particular, though I cannot speak to the exact clauses of the contracts in Duck Dynasty (snooping into private legal documents is not my forte), this case is likely a question of contractual obligations.  It is not an uncommon practice for actors' or reality stars' contracts to contain clauses about the kinds of statements they can make in public related to a company's brand.  If these clauses exist in any DD contracts, and A&E felt the statements made were antithetical to the channel's brand, they have every right as an employer to tell Mr. Robertson that he cannot say them and to punish him as they see fit (within the confines of the law).

Freedom of Speech protects you from government censorship.  It does not protect you from the social or economic implications of saying something other people don't like.

Constitutionally yours,

Rachel Leigh

On Danish Kids (also, an update)

It's been ridiculous recently, sorry I haven't been posting.

As you may or may not know, I was in Brussels, the Hague, and Amsterdam all last week, so my internet access was unreliable at best.  Lessons I learned on that trip:

• Even most EU citizens are confused about what the EU does
• Sharing a room with 11 other people is detrimental to my ability to sleep
• A man with a faucet on his head isn't normal, but in Amsterdam it is

Also, I learned that somehow, in spite of being like one-tenth its size, Copenhagen Kastrup Airport is substantially more confusing than Amsterdam-Schipol Airport.  But that's another story for another day.  And by "another day," I mean we're never going to discuss it again.

Today, we took a tour of the Danish Parliament, the Folketing.  Admittedly, I'd done this before, but it was kind of cool to get one from a prominent Parliamentarian and we ended up talking about our impressions of Denmark - namely Danish attitudes towards children.

Which is what I thought I'd talk to you all about today.  The Danes have a very different idea about children and childhood than we have in the States.  Children are given a lot of freedom - I've seen 6 or 7 year olds riding the Metro alone or in small groups, and apparently in a kindergarten class one of my friends is working with, the students are given a lot more free choice about what they're going to do with their time.

The stereotypical example is that Danish mothers will often leave baby carriages (with the babies inside) outside of stores and cafes while they go inside, because the likelihood that your child will get kidnapped in Copenhagen is unfathomably small.

But I just think the level of independence and choice they give children is really interesting.  We structure the lives of children so much to help and protect them, but from what I can see, Danish kids seem to do pretty well on their own.

Pedagogically? yours,
Rachel Leigh