Roger Moroney: Free speech not meant for idiots | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

I had a teacher once who had a very memorable piece of advice for his often noisy and distracted charges.

He would peer over the top rims of his glasses, and fix his stern gaze on a chatterbox before declaring: "Listen, boy ... if you have something to say, say it to us all!"

Which was all very challenging and liberal and sensible and whatever ... except on one occasion the kid in his gaze responded by saying: "You smell, sir".

We all laughed and the boy was appropriately dispatched to see a more senior teacher who, shall we say, was in the bamboo cane trade.

It is called "freedom of speech", I think.

A wondrous thing which has been espoused since the 17th century when England's Bill of Rights granted a "freedom of speech in Parliament" act.

They had that covered by saying ... "in Parliament".

You could stand up in the "House" and call the honourable gentleman from Chiswick a "vile creature saturated in the drink and a scurvy upon womanhood" and not be punished. But try calling him that in the local tavern and a constable would be summoned ... or you'd be slaughtered by the honourable gentleman's chums and not a judge in the land would blink an eye.

Still happens today, except it's called "parliamentary privilege".

You can accuse, defame and pour scorn with little or no retribution inside the sanctuary of the debating chamber.

But tell one teacher he's got BO and you'll be marched off to the headmaster's office.

Freedom of speech, in public, can be a very dangerous thing.

The United States constitution carries an amendment about this alleged "right" and they call it the First Amendment.

I wonder why it was amended in the first place, though, to be classed as an amendment? But that's for more serious people to air their views on, because that's what freedom of speech is all about ... I think.

In the US, by all accounts, you can say, and often do, anything because you have the right.

No wonder the teachers are leaving their posts in droves.

Over there in the religious belt of the US there is a loony-toon called Pastor Terry Jones and he adores the First Amendment because that makes his lunacy legal and without need of amending.

This airheaded pulpit-pounder reckons it's just a huge sin to have this book called the Koran in circulation.

He is opposed to it but, rather than quite simply declare that, he decides to take a stand in the name of the book he believes is the one that has more of a right to mass circulation.

So, Bible in one hand and a lighter in the other, Terry the turnip set fire to a copy of the Koran.

Oddly enough, he ignored all the vile and damaging extreme pornography magazines stuffed on shelves all across the state of Florida and instead chose a religious holy book - cherished by Muslims.

I have no problem at all with the Koran.

I have a problem with religious extremists, however - the ones who damage people and property ... and I'm not talking about Muslim extremists right now ... I'm talking about the likes of Pastor Jones who is besotted by his Bible.

I believe a man once walked this Earth and he was special ... but maybe not to the point of possessing seemingly magical powers ... although his followers down the track did because they wrote a book about him.

The Koran is also about a special man who once walked the land and, within all religions, that is the common bond.

Someone special once wandered about and inspired people.

Kind of like Elvis, really.

Pastor Jones' appallingly self-righteous and bigoted act of ugliness in burning an "opposition" book to his beloved Bible resulted in outraged extremist Muslims attacking a United Nations office in Afghanistan, where they killed seven people.

All because he and his lighter effectively declared a holy war on behalf of the United States of America.

The First Amendment lets this misguided old prat get away with it ... and now he's planning the next stage in his own sick little war. He is going to put the prophet Mohammed "on trial" during his next personal day of judgment.

There should be a sub-clause to the First Amendment and it should read "freedom of expression ... unless you're a certifiable idiot who should be locked up".

Pastor Jones is an arsonist. He is pouring fuel on already flickering flames of religious intolerance on opposite sides of the world, and all because the law of his land says he is allowed to.

The First Amendment needs ... an amendment.

Roger Moroney is an award-winning journalist for Hawke's Bay Today and observer of the slightly off-centre.