SCENARIO ONE: Imagine there is a public event wherein two people are scheduled to give speeches, one of them will immediately follow the other on stage. One of the people is a person for whom you have absolutely no respect nor admiration, someone you deeply despise, and whose stance on the issues at hand you find completely reprehensible. The other speaker is a person for whom you have high regard and esteem, the two of you share similar values and morals, and with whom you agree on many of the issues to be discussed.
As each of the speakers is introduced and attempts to deliver their speeches, they are completely drowned out by separate throngs of protesters who don’t want their messages heard. Several times they try to start again, but they cannot be heard at all. The tumult is so great that neither one of them is able to get more than thirty seconds into their presentations before it becomes obvious that it is an impossibility. Eventually, each of them gives up trying and leaves the stage, whereupon the mob explodes in a victory celebration. The protesters are not part of any government agency.
SCENARIO TWO: Same as above with the exception that the person you despise is not interrupted by protesters at all and gives the intended speech in full, but the person you favor is shouted down as stated.
SCENARIO THREE: Same as Scenario One with the exception that the person on your side of the issues is not faced with opposition and delivers every word without being bothered, yet the person you cannot stand is stopped cold by the opposition‘s noise-making.
QUESTIONS:
1. In Scenario One, who among the three entities (Speaker One, Speaker Two, or the protesters), if any, is merely exercising their right of freedom of speech?
2. Is it ok with you for one person or group to restrict another’s right to speak as long as you also disagree with the message?
3. Is it fair that neither party got to speak, meaning that they were treated equally?
4. In Scenario Two, due to whom you like between the two of them, is it wrong that your speaker was stopped from continuing, while the other person was not?
5. In Scenario Three, based on which speaker you prefer, is it fine with you that your speaker finished the address and the other person did not?
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