Concerns about civility and mutual respect can never be used as a justification for closing off discussion of ideas, however offensive or disagreeable those ideas may be.
Strong free speech protections for all people and all perspectives should facilitate the flourishing of expression that is diverse in every sense, including cultural.
Principled supporters of free speech should neutrally support it even for ideas they hate, to paraphrase former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Speech is protected precisely because of its powerful potential to affect hearts, minds, and actions — and that power may contribute to either good or harm.
The arguments for and against free speech continue to involve the same eternal, fundamental issues of principle that have been debated throughout history.
