Values of Free Expression
The value that I chose was Promoting Tolerance. The reason I
chose this was because I recently read a book on the story of Matthew Shepard.
He was a college student who was brutally beaten, tortured and left to die in a
small town called Laramie. This took place in 1998. A big takeaway from the
story was “Live and let live,” which was a motto of the town which wasn’t
really followed until this incident happened.
Matthew Shepard (Pictured Above)
Picture Retrieved From: NPR
I think that there is a huge difference between tolerating
and accepting. For example, not everybody can accept gay people. Accepting is
coming to terms with who someone is and what they believe in or love. The
understanding of someone’s identity is acceptance. That is their opinion, and
they get to choose what to believe. However, tolerance is a great policy. A tolerant
society is not only a “better” society, but is less violent, more peaceful, and
overall a better atmosphere and environment to be in. Tolerance is one’s
ability to come to terms with the existence of the person, rather than the
person’s identity or beliefs. It is unreasonable to demand that everybody be
accepting of others. Although that is a sad reality, it is unfortunately the harsh
truth. The ability to simply tolerate someone or something takes no effort and
makes a huge difference.
This policy brings peace, saves lives and makes the world a
better place. If someone were to decide to adopt this policy into their
society, they could watch the hate crimes decrease. They could watch the
threats decrease. This leads to an environment and atmosphere where people do
not feel like they have to be friends with everyone, but they feel safe and
able to express themselves. These people can feel free to be who they are,
which is the type of world everyone should want to live in.
Picture Retrieved From: Arab News
Is our society tolerant? In some ways, I do believe that our
society is starting to tolerate a lot more than we used to. However, this is
not always the case. Last summer, my mom walked into my room and told me that
someone I knew very well was arrested. A gay man in his twenties was going out
to the bar in South Carolina with some friends. When some people found out he
was gay, they spiked his drink with drugs. However, these weren’t “date rape”
drugs of any kind. These drugs made him break into an attorney’s office and
trash the place. Keep in mind, this man is one of the kindest, sweetest, most
innocent people I have ever met, and he has the biggest heart. He would never
do anything to hurt anyone on purpose. But he was arrested for on accounts for
many things which the drugs made him do. He spent a few nights in jail, before
my mom drove thirteen hours to bail him out. This is a perfect example of not
being tolerant. This man was doing absolutely nothing wrong. He was simply
unwinding, having a good time with his friends in the bar after a long week of
work. Someone who was simply not tolerant of gay people decided to take
everything away from him. He lost his job, a lot of money and his sanity for a
little while.
Picture Retrieved From: Ed Modo
Our society is tolerant, when they want to be tolerant. That
is not the kind of society I want to live in.
Information From:
Matthew Shepard Foundation and Wikipedia
Information From:
Matthew Shepard Foundation and Wikipedia
