Freedom of Expression is a right that many of us take for granted but that we all use every single day. In fact, I am using it right now as I type. And if you ever express agreement, disagreement, or even indifference towards what I am writing, then you are using it too. Sadly though, this fundamental right is under attack.

According to a 2021 Knight-Ipsos poll, 59% of college students say that colleges should expose them to "all types of speech even if they may find it offensive or biased," while 22% said colleges should "protect students by prohibiting speech they may find offensive or biased," and 17% expressed "no opinion."* However, as recently as 2017, there were 82% who supported exposure to all speech, 18% who wanted "protection" from offensive speech, and 1% who expressed no opinion. It is also important to note that these attitudes do not just reflect opinions on private actions but also government actions, because the college respondents were from "all types" of higher education, including public colleges and private colleges that receive public funding.

Reflecting the attitudes held by the same young adults who will become our future leaders, the results of that poll and others like it, show a dangerous trend. Fueled by a Woke Progressive culture that is constantly telling us that we are either oppressed or oppressors who deserve either perpetual restitution or perpetual punishment, students are being taught that any speech that the Left finds offensive is akin to actual violence and must be severely punished.

The result is that those who are deemed worthy are now being told that they deserve to have a new pair of rights regarding expression: the "right to be free from insult" and the "right to receive positive affirmation." The latter deserves its own separate discussion, but the former is what we are focused on here. However, to truly understand why this notion is so dangerous we have to understand what Freedom of Expression actually is.

"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."

- First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

Your Freedom of Expression is your inherent God-given right to express yourself. The First Amendment exists to recognize that right and protect it from intrusion by the federal government. All of the rights that are specifically mentioned within the First Amendment fall under that larger overarching right. We often call it Free Speech because the word "speech" does appear in that amendment, but "speech" can take many forms, which is why the term "expression" is more accurate. Our expression can be spoken words, written words, religious exercises, movies, paintings, tattoos, photographs, bumper stickers, political organizations, sculptures, and even graphic t-shirts. However, there is no right to force anyone else to experience, share, agree with, or join in on your expression. You are free to talk, but nobody is forced to listen.

There are also a few very narrow and necessary limits on expression, which include things like prohibiting the violation and abuse of minors through the crucial outlawing of things such as child porn, or prohibiting expressions that pose a "clear and present danger" of inciting real and "immediate" violence. These kinds of limits are important to maintain but are extremely narrow in their scope. Consenting adults are free to do as they wish in private and between themselves. You are also free to express things that others may believe are unpopular, wrong, aggressive, angry, mean, harsh, hateful, spiteful, cruel, malicious, rude, violent, and bad.

To put it simply and generally, you are free to express yourself however you like...as long as you do not infringe on anyone else's rights. That is how liberty works. Sounds straightforward enough, right? Well, that simple concept is one of the many places where Woke Progressivism gets it wrong.

In all honesty, people who oppose free speech do not actually oppose ALL speech; they truly only oppose speech that they do not like. An individual who opposes free speech will always support, justify, excuse, or forgive his own speech, no matter how egregious his speech is. The problem is that individual will not afford the same courtesy to the speech of others. The same holds true for Progressives. This is dangerous because if we all expect to be protected from encountering any speech that we personally do not like, we will either have a nation of 332 million unique, unwritten, one-sided, and ever-changing speech codes to follow, or in the more likely scenario, we will have a tyrannical government that decides our every word for us. Neither outcome is good.

It is vital that we do things such as preserving the innocence of children and protecting them from abuse. It is also vital that, when we encounter speech we disagree with, we are not forced to read, watch, listen, share, accept, agree, or join in on it. Thankfully, a true adherence to the First Amendment does not conflict with those goals. The real purpose and value of Freedom of Expression is that it supports the natural and important human trait of advanced communication. Part of being human is having the liberty to use language and art to share our ideas. We cannot allow that to be infringed.

If we do not protect Freedom of Expression we rob ourselves of our individuality, communication, and creativity. That is why we should not even advocate for the government to ban the very speech of those who oppose the First Amendment. Although they hypocritically benefit from the very thing they oppose, we also benefit from being reminded now and again of what is important and what we stand to lose if we let those individuals gain power.

We need a vibrant First Amendment so that we can worship, share information, innovate, compete, debate, and evaluate ideas...even ideas that some may deem unpopular and offensive. Why? Because communication is part of being human and when it comes to bad ideas, sunlight is a great disinfectant.

- Breighton Smith

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* College Student Views on Free Expression and Campus Speech 2022, Knight Foundation, January 2022, https://knightfoundation.org/reports/college-student-views-on-free-expression-and-campus-speech-2022/