For we are dumb and policed
“For we are Young and Free.” What a lovely line. I think of swimming at the beach, a cheering crowd at a concert, a happy family eating Christmas lunch. Or we might think of the freedom to live where we want, to study what we want, to work where we want, and to buy what we want. Below these delightful tip-of-the-iceberg freedoms, lie the four foundational freedoms of conscience, assembly, religion, and expression. Freedom of conscience is your freedom not to be coerced to act against your convictions about what is good and what is evil. Mel Gibson’s 2016 movie Hacksaw Ridge, for…
New Attacks on our Freedom of Conscience
Last week the Federal Group denied service to a Coalition for Marriage gathering. The Plenary Hall at Wrest Point Casino was booked and paid for, and then cancelled forty-eight hours before the event. The University of Tasmania was approached. The Stanley Burbury Theatre was free, but the University also denied service. The event “did not fit within the terms of hire for university facilities.” Thankfully the Vice-Chancellor reviewed the refusal, and the evening went ahead. We could say a lot about the Federal Group’s discourteousness, cancelling very late a booking made in good faith. And we could say a lot…