John Mill

"Nazis are banned from marching through a neighborhood of Nazi holocaust survivors."

Three "imaginary" dialogues below argue that the above action should not be banned by law according to the principles of freedom espoused by John S. Mill in On Liberty.

DIALOGUE # 1 (Saul, a Nazi holocaust survivor; Todd, a J. S. Mill scholar)

Saul: Damn Nazi pigs! They have no right marching up and down our streets, in this community no less. It's worse than Berlin. The cops have to stop them from marching.

Todd: Saul I understand the painful memories and emotions seeing a group of Nazi supporters marching down your streets must have for you and others in the community. However, they are only marching and not causing any harm to others other than dredging up a host of painful memories. America is founded on freedom of speech and thought.

Saul: You mean it is called freedom to march around promoting the values of hatred, racism and murder.

Todd: But those are value judgements Saul. What is racist to you or hateful may not be so to others. It is their opinion, and as detestable as it is to my own sense of values, they have a right to express that opinion as long as it is not causing harm to others according to John Mill.

Saul: Yeah, but you mean to tell me this kind of thing is not causing harm to those who were subjected to torture and brutality in the camps?

Todd: But they are expressing their beliefs and if we start to "police" the belie

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creating a nuisance by marching. They are merely putting their beliefs into action by way of parading them in public. It is not blocking traffic, it has not caused injury to anyone, and, if it is a nuisance to the Jewish members of this community it is because it prompts psychological pain by way of memories but the marchers are not a direct nuisance to the townsfolk by their actions. Only if their actions were a direct nuisance or caused harm to the people directly, i.e., by way of physical violence or property damage. Steve: Yes, but these folks are ready to riot over this. Todd: Well, if they do Steve, Mill believes it would be your duty to protect the marchers if the attack was not provoked by them. Steve: I can tell this Mill guy didn't work on the force. Todd: No, he didn't Steve, but you do and he saw it as your job to protect others from harm, especially others who are being harmed solely from their beliefs, speech or actions that do not interfere with the freedoms of others. As Mill said, if an individual "refrains from molesting others in what concerns them, and merely acts according to his own inclination and judgement in things which concern himself, the same reasons which show that opinion should be free,

Category: Literature - J