On Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:55:49 -0500, Mike Raiford wrote:

>> Actually, I think the school was in the wrong here.  The students who
>> he was distributing to have every right to say "no thank you".
>> 
> I don't think so. School is not the appropriate forum to proselytize. 

There's a difference between "not appropriate" and "should be 
prohibited".  I agree it's not appropriate, but as a supporter of free 
speech, I have to support it not just in cases of things I find 
appropriate - I also have to support it in cases where there are things 
that I think are inappropriate.

That's what "free speech" is.

> If
> you want to give out messages, that's fine, leave them in a public area.
> Don't pass it to each individual. Not everyone will appreciate it. If it
> were me, I would have taken the candy and chucked the card in the bin
> without so much as looking at it...

As is your right.  There's no guarantee that everyone will appreciate it, 
nor that people will actually read what's attached.  That's not really 
the point, though.  The point is "does the student have the right to 
exercise their free speech on school property?", to which the answer is 
absolutely, as long as they (a) aren't disrupting an ongoing class by 
doing so, and (b) aren't inciting people to commit violent acts.  As long 
as they aren't doing those things, it's fine with me.  I may not agree 
with the message, but again, the message isn't the important part.  The 
exercising of the right is.

Jim

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