Losing Your Job or Losing Your Life

On the limits of free speech:

With so many haters gleefully celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk, and even calling for more such assassinations, we are now reading about how many of them are being let go of from their jobs. I am not sure how all these dismissals are being recorded and tabulated, but it seems that quite a few people have already been fired from their employment.

And this can take various forms. The most recent and most famous example deals with that of late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel. One news report explains:

Disney is pulling ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “indefinitely,” the company confirmed to Fox News Digital. “Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” a Disney spokesperson said. Nexstar Media Group, which owns hundreds of television stations, announced earlier it would preempt Kimmel’s show on its ABC affiliates starting Wednesday night “for the foreseeable future” and would replace it with other programming over his comments about alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson.

 

“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views or values of the local communities in which we are located,” Nexstar’s broadcasting chief, Andrew Alford, said in a press release. https://www.foxnews.com/media/disney-says-jimmy-kimmels-show-will-be-preempted-indefinitely-following-charlie-kirk-assassin-comments

So plenty of cases of people being removed from work can now be mentioned. However, this has resulted in a new debate among Christians and conservatives. Some conservatives (and/or libertarians) are saying those who cheered on Kirk’s murder should not be pulled from their jobs, and we should not seek for that.

They claim we are then just engaging in cancel culture like the left does. They are saying we are not championing freedom of speech if we do this. While I can see where these folks are coming from, I have a number of problems with this sort of reasoning. Here then are five responses to this:

One. If an employer wants to remove such evil and demonised people from their payroll, that is totally up to them, and I have no real problem with it. All bosses have to determine if a worker is good for their business. Sure, some things should not be cause for firing a person. If a worker says in his own time that he does not like Kirk, that is one thing. But if a worker brashly shares his hatred of Kirk and cheers on his murder, then that is something all bosses should look into, and perhaps take action on.

And of course it partly depends on the job, and where one is working. If a Democrat politician discovers that one of his staffers is really a Republican and a conservative, he would likely want to see him gone real quick. I can understand that, just as a Christian school or business should not be forced to employ atheists, satanists and the like.

Two. More importantly, some professions really do need to be careful here. For example, if a teacher has this sort of demonic hatred within, I would never want them to teach my children – or any children. Indeed, they should be nowhere near children.

The same with certain other professions. If a nurse or a doctor has that much vile hatred of humanity, I would NOT want to be their patient. I would fear for my life! We know that patient abuse, neglect and the like does happen. If you are someone who has known Christian and conservative views, you might think twice about going under the knife or being attended to by someone who has spoken such vile hatred and contempt of conservatives and Christians.

Three. Incitement to violence is NOT freedom of speech. I am not a gung-ho libertarian, and I do not think people can say ANYTHING they want to say. Some things should be off limits. We already have laws against things like crying ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre, slander, defamation, and incitement to violence, etc. The American First Amendment does NOT protect or regard as sacrosanct every form of speech.

Four. Sure, I will pray for such folks who spew such ugly hatred, whether in their workplace, or outside of it. I hope they have a change of heart. But justice matters, and if losing their job after making such diabolical remarks helps them to wake up and see their own evil hearts, that is a good thing.

Five. Related to this, there is NO moral equivalence here. Charlie Kirk lost his life. He will not be able to get it back – at least in this life. But workers who lose their jobs because of heartless comments rejoicing in the death of Kirk can get another job.

There would be plenty of woke and radical left workplaces where such people would be welcomed with open arms. So let them work at their places of business, and they can spew their hatred without fear of conscientious employers questioning their employment.

Answering an objection

Critics might reply: ‘Bill, have you not spoken out when a Christian doctor lost his job for his non-workplace posts.’ Yes I have, but 4 quick replies about the major differences here:

-Saying things like ‘children deserve their own mum and dad’ or ‘we should support the unborn’ is not hate speech. Rejoicing in murder and wanting to see more of it is.

-This believer (and others like him) were NOT inciting others to violence and assassination.

-The left routinely urges all Christians and conservatives to be kicked out of their jobs. Those of us on the right are NOT routinely asking that all lefties get the boot.

-As mentioned, in most cases this is about an employer who made a decision to let go of workers who are far too unhinged and hate-filled to hang on to.

In sum, yes free speech matters – with proper limits. Yes, cancel culture is alive and well, and it is overwhelmingly found on the left. But when cruel individuals are so happy to push their poisonous hate and celebrate the murder of others, claiming they deserved it, then it seems to me if their bosses are not thrilled with such folks, they have every right to take action. These haters have effectively sealed their own fate.

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