This is your only warning…this post is a bit of a rant.
Sure, this is the internet, where we should be able to say anything, but that’s not true.
I’ve found that when people don’t like something, they vehemently deny anything is wrong and do their best to bring you down to their level.
Specifically, I’m referring to the election last year. It’s been almost a full year, but the sting is still there. Now, I am an independent voter. I have no party affiliation. While I tend to swing more conservative, there are some liberal views I also side with. So, I don’t apply to any political party.
My real problem is that when I said this last spring about how I couldn’t say anything against the Democrats on my LiveJournal without getting bashed every which way to kingdom come, I had a commercially published author insisting that I can say whatever I want but at the same time hammering me for being conservative and not possibly being independent because of my preferences. I also had another commercially published author threaten to unfriend me if I started posting political subjects (because she also didn’t agree). (I should have told her I don’t care, because in her sample writing she posted, her writing wasn’t anything great anyway and all she ended up doing was posting “Look at me!” posts about her contracts and where her books could be found…Damned irritating. Nothing about being a real person. I read blogs by writers to see the real, gritty moments of writing. I don’t need someone telling me to buy their books all the time. In fact, if I feel like someone’s pushing something on me, I tend to run away from them and never look back. Needless to say, I have since unfriended those writers a Ms. Ready and a Ms. Hubbard.)
Anyway, those responses geared up for arguments I didn’t want to get into, so I deleted the post. Much of the responses were along the lines of denying anything was wrong and that I shouldn’t say anything…Aha! See what I mean by a dwindling freedom of speech? Those who don’t like the small voice in the crowd speaking out against the majority want to quell that voice. They will bash you for opposing them. It’s the bully mentality.
Well, I’m here to recover that and to say that we can’t lose our freedoms. Some of you will turn away, I’m sure, or simply disagree. But my example is just one of many I’ve experienced. A lot of bad apples are spoiling the bunch for those of us who work hard and follow the current rules of conduct. Why should we be punished for speaking out in opposition to something we disagree with? Now, I do believe in avoiding the extremists on any side of an issue and holding my tongue to avoid a fight with them, but I don’t want to fight. Why can’t we just have a reasonable discussion?
The incident I described was one in which an urban fantasy author by the last name of Ready cut me down for speaking out. Her words were poisonous and not at all understanding. Right away she jumped on me, proving my point that I was trying to make, but it upset others who didn’t want to hear about it and stuck their thumbs in their ears and hummed real loud. It upset me to see that another author would try to stifle the words of another. We’re writers! We speak our minds all the time and enjoy the freedom of speech–it’s our chosen profession. Why should anyone basically tell another to shut up and put up? If she has her freedom of speech, why can’t I have mine?
End of rant. Thanks for listening.
I agree, of course. I don’t mind people posting whatever they want on their blogs. Those are their blogs so they should be able to voice out however they want. But I should also be able to post up whatever I want on my blogs too. Fair is fair…or at least it is in theory. I know the reality is just as you’ve stated. If you agree with them, you can say whatever you want, but if you disagree, they get into a tizzy fit.
I made a post awhile back and ended up running when faced with opposition. I guess I’ve just learned that being bold and standing up for what I believe is a process. It’s scary to get out there and risk the attacks. I still find myself testing the waters before I fully jump into a post on a sensitive topic. But one thing we do have as authors is our ability to put down what our values are into our stories. I used to avoid any mention of my beliefs but then I read all these books where other people put in their views (one I’ll never forget being “People who believe in God are stupid.”). I decided that if people don’t like the way I write, then they don’t have to. This is why I ultimately went into self-publishing. I never would have written what I do now if I was seeking commercial publication. But I also decided to put all my stuff for free because of this too. I figure how can a reader really complain when they didn’t pay for the story?
The climate of this country though is not favorable to true freedom of speech and I figure that the day will come when I’ll be removed from the Internet for daring to mention God and the Bible in a positive way. I mean, if people are offended by a cross in front of a building, someone’s going to be offended by my stories. But I’ve actually gotten bolder because the way I figure, if we don’t use our freedom of speech now (even when people do throw stones at us), then other people who may secretly agree with us may never be embolden to speak up. The more people that come out to use their freedom of speech, the better we all benefit.
(Okay. I went on longer than I intended. Sorry.)
Don’t be sorry. I asked for your opinion. We’re not alone in feeling like we can’t truly speak up, I’m sure, which is sad. Like I said, it’s the bully mentality of others to squash those who say things they disagree with. It’s as bad as authors who criticize a bad review or bad reviews that simply are a mud-slinging campaign…Everyone is entitled to their opinion.