Posted by
Michael A. Minton on Monday, April 14, 2008 4:20:57 AM
It has happened again. Remember a few articles back I wrote about a web-hosting company in Virginia that backed out of a deal to broadcast a sixteen-minute film about the link between the koran and radical Islam? Well, it has happened again--this time in England.
According to CNSNews.com, in an article entitled “Koran Film Taken Down ‘After Threats,’” by Patrick Goodenough, the film, which was made by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, and was called “Fitna,” ran long enough to be seen by millions of viewers.
However, after receiving “…threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill-informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly lead to the harm of some of our staff,” the British server provider LiveLeak.com took the film down.
Now, I can respect the company not wanting to put any of its employees in harm’s way. However, we HAVE GOT to realize here, folks, that this is not child’s play. This is not a game of Blackjack where you can come back and maybe have better luck tomorrow. This is winner-take-all stakes, and so far, we ain’t winnin’!
Sure, we have a professional military that can deploy and kick butt anywhere in the world. There’s no doubt about that. What we fail to realize, though, is that sometimes we need a little sacrifice on the home front, too! We are too ambivalent about our freedom. We are too lazy to do what it may take to keep it, and we are too scared to look back and see what our forefathers had to do to secure it for us!
The LiveLeak.com website is quoted in the CNSNews story as saying, “This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else. We would like to thank the thousands of people, from all backgrounds and religions, who gave us their support. They realized LiveLeak.com is a vehicle for many opinions and not just for the support of one.”
Where would we be today if Colonial Americans had said, “Sorry about this Great Experiment thing, folks, but the British have threatened us, and we just can’t man-up to the challenge?” Where in the heck would we be? I’ll tell you where, in England, or in British America, that’s where we’d be.
Give me a break! Come on and get some anatomy about yourselves you so-called freedom-lovers. Yes, you are freedom-lovers, just not freedom-protectors. I’ll tell you, if I had to die to protect freedom of speech for my children, I would do it in a second. And with the stuff I write about, who knows, I just might. But I’ll be damned if I will just let someone take it from me, or my kids!