Sir, – Simon Woodworth (September 15th) badly misunderstands what it means to live in a free society. To “weigh” protestations of the right to free speech against the intent of a video to provoke, as he puts it, is to be held ransom to the intolerant and the fanatical. The only correct response to those who cause damage to life and property over mere words, besides a legal one, is to carry on exercising the hard-won freedoms of liberal democracy.
There is no right to not be offended by another’s free expression, for taking offence is utterly subjective. Moreover, fanatics by their nature set an absurdly low threshold for what constitutes unacceptable. To even compare a video and mob violence and death threats on a moral level is woefully misguided. – Yours, etc,