Monday, March 29, 2010

The Threatener's Veto

The performance of the play "Corpus Christi" at Tarleton State University in Texas has been cancelled due to death threats.

It's sickening to hear of yet another event at a university cancelled due to threats, although it's understandable why the professor in charge did so. However, this should not be the end of this.

First, the university should aggressively seek out and demand the prosecution of every single person who made a threat (and if they're associated with the university, kick them out).

Second, the university should make a video of the students performing the play, even if there is no audience. They should post the video on YouTube and prominently link to it from the front page of the university's website.
Third, the university should invite a series of speakers to campus in the next academic year to talk about censorship and why we need to protect free speech. (I'm happy to volunteer to be the first.)

We can't allow threats and intimidation to silence speech, especially on a college campus.

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