Morality and Legality

A lot of my students have come in to the Writing Center working on papers about hate speech, arguing whether or not it is or should be protected under the First Amendment and what policies public colleges and universities should make about it. Personally, I feel largely on the fence about it. On one hand, I think everyone should have a right to express their opinions, even their negative opinions about historically marginalized groups. They have, or should have, a right to speak their minds. On the other hand, hate speech is obviously morally wrong, and it serves no good purpose. It hurts people's feelings (not the worst sin in the world, but it's not saintly either), and it accomplishes nothing.

However, while it's clear to me that it's wrong to engage in hate speech, it's also clear to me that it's important to protect free speech, even when it's unpopular and, according to one study or another (I can find the source later, if you care), physically harmful. Hate speech may contribute to health problems like anxiety, depression, and high-blood pressure, but laws banning it would have to be worded very carefully to avoid irreparably handicapping public discourse. We are a republic. It's important for people to be free to exchange ideas.

This debate has highlighted for me, yet again, that there is a distinction between morality and legality. Not everything that is legal is moral. Not everything that is illegal is immoral. Not everything that is moral is legal. And not everything that is immoral is illegal. Nor, in the latter case only, should it be. I believe that everything that is moral should be legal. No one should be arrested for doing good things. However, I don't believe that everything that is immoral should be illegal, if only because the laws against those things would be difficult and disastrous to enforce. In general, I believe that more freedom is better than less. And, with my belief in the Final Judgment, I'm not too concerned with making sure wrong-doers are punished in this life. They will, soon enough, receive punishment enough.

In the meantime, I'm willing to respect their agency, at least on this topic. I don't like some of what some people say, but respect their right to say it. It's certainly immoral, but that alone, in my opinion, isn't enough of a reason to make it illegal.