Freedom of Expression

Conversation between a 6-year-old and 5-year-old in the back seat of my car, both from believing families.

“That’s a [place of worship]. That’s where they worship a bad god.”

“No,” from the other, a little offended. “They worship a different god.”

Hmm, let me guess which child is less likely to offend his parents’ friends. I let them carry on for a bit, curious about what else I would learn. They argued about whether it was bad or different, then I butted in and explained that people might feel sad if you tell them that they worship a bad god. I didn’t want to be responsible for any consequences for his free expression.

“No,” said the bad defender, “They will kill you.” Oh, ho ho. Someone else had already thought about the consequences for his free expression. I mean, that was probably helpful for him to know—you know, a little deterrent from telling too many people that their god is bad. He concluded, “They think that their god is the good God.”

We all agreed on that.