June 5, 2007

This Post is Old!

The post you are reading is years old and may not represent my current views. I started blogging around the time I first began to study philosophy, age 17. In my view, the point of philosophy is to expose our beliefs to rational scrutiny so we can revise them and get better beliefs that are more likely to be true. That's what I've been up to all these years, and this blog has been part of that process. For my latest thoughts, please see the front page.

The ACLU Has Selective Hearing

Opinion Journal has a great editorial criticizing the recent inaction of the ACLU in defending unpopular speech by conservatives. (HT: Jeff the Baptist.) It wasn't that long ago that the ACLU was defending the right of the Aryan Nations to march in north Idaho. It seems that if you are a nutcase who thinks homosexuals should be burned at the stake, the ACLU thinks you have a right to your opinion, but if you thinks homosexual behavior is immoral it doesn't. It does seem to me to be true that the ACLU has been moving in a more and more partisan leftist direction, and has been selectively failing to notice violations of the speech rights of conservatives.

I used to say that I agreed with the ACLU about as often as I agreed with George Bush, and on opposite issues. This shouldn't be surprising, since I'm a right-libertarian, the ACLU is left-libertarian, and Bush is right-authoritarian. So, in theory, the ACLU and I ought to agree on how much power government ought to have over the lives of individuals, and George Bush and I ought to agree on what the government should do with the power it does have. Unfortunately, both Bush and the ACLU have been getting worse, and I would say that Bush has been getting worse faster.

Well, perhaps there will be a miracle and Ron Paul will win the presidential election... I suspect that would solve a lot of problems.

Posted by Kenny at June 5, 2007 12:10 PM
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Comments

Yes, it's a pity that the ACLU has abandoned its once clear stand for all civil rights in favor of a Leftist agenda. We need an ACLU in American society.

Posted by: John at June 5, 2007 8:12 PM

Fortunately, the EFF and FIRE seem still to be fairly non-partisan, although both of them have rather restricted scopes (EFF being concerned with technology, and FIRE with academia). Then there are organizations like the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) that have partisan agendas on the opposite side. So at least the hole isn't entirely unfilled.

Posted by: Kenny at June 5, 2007 9:07 PM

Another good and similar organization is the Innocence Project.

I suppose that the civil liberties movement is splintering because people are more interested in protecting specific civil liberties, than a broad agenda. Since it would be hard to agree on a broad agenda, perhaps it is for the best.

Posted by: John at June 28, 2007 5:41 PM

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