“...The Tyranny of Silence is Rose’s insider account of the cartoon crisis, and it is gripping. He deftly presents the tangled chain of events and summarizes the principal arguments for and against publishing the cartoons. (Spoiler alert: if he had it to do again, he would.) Perhaps most valuable are Rose’s meditations about a misguided culture of grievance that is deeply established in Europe and gaining influence in the United States and which threatens free speech as generations of Westerners have known it.
“Doubt is the germ of curiosity and critical questioning,” Rose writes, “and its prerequisite is a strong sense of self, a courage that leaves room for debate.” Under freedom of speech, every belief and every group is equally subject to discussion, criticism, and even satire or ridicule. No one is exempt, whether on grounds of privilege or because of the lack of it. “In a democracy, no one can claim the exclusive right to tell certain stories,” Rose writes. “That means, to me, that Muslims have the right to tell jokes and critical stories about Jews, while nonbelievers can skewer Islam in any way they wish.” It was because he had seen Danish institutions censoring themselves so as not to offend Muslims that Rose invited twelve cartoonists to defend by demonstration this vivid principle of free expression.”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, free speech, The Tyranny of Silence, Cato Institute, Charlie Hebdo