I have previously spoken and written of how freedom of speech and freedom of thought are, in my opinion, fundamental to Buddha Dharma and Buddha practice. Here are a few examples of my comments:
http://clouds-genmyo.blogspot.com/2015/07/freedom-dharma-talk-for-july-4th.html
Freedom of Thought, Freedom from Thought 5/22/15
Freedom of Thought, Freedom from Thought Part 2 5/23/15
http://clouds-genmyo.blogspot.com/2015/05/freedoms.html
There seem to be many instances where our society and polity is attempting to use political, financial and other powers to stifle and destroy these fundamental freedoms.
Freedom includes freedom for those with whom we disagree, those whom we think are "wrong", in our opinion.
Here is a report of a recent example of speech and thought control sent to me:
"Advocates of climate regulation
are urging the Obama Administration to investigate people who don’t share their views.
Last month George Mason Professor Jagadish Shukla and 19 others signed a letter to President Obama, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and White House science adviser John Holdren urging punishment for climate dissenters. “One additional tool—recently proposed by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse—is
a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act)
investigation of corporations and other organizations that have
knowingly deceived the American people about the risks of climate
change, as a means to forestall America’s response to climate change,”
they wrote.
In other words, they want the feds to use a law
created to prosecute the mafia against lawful businesses and scientists.
In a May op-ed in the Washington Post, Mr. Whitehouse specifically
cited Willie Soon of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics,
who has published politically inconvenient research on changes in solar
radiation."
For the full article and comments see the following with links therein:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/shut-upor-well-shut-you-down-1444429915?mod=djemMER
