Permission to Speak Freely

In Proverbs 15, we see some wise words about the proper use of the tongue:
1 A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.
3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.
4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

The Bible teaches us that our words are a reflection of what is abundant in our hearts, and we also are told that we, in our human strength, cannot tame our tongues.  The tongue is powerful, and it has to be guided through the power of the Holy Spirit.  We are told to be slow to speak and quick to listen. And, we are to guard against idle words.  So our tongue can be used to build up or tear down, for God's purpose or our own.  We have the power to use our words to bring about powerful outcomes.

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The Bible has plenty to say about our demeanor as believers in Christ, and the quality of our speech, consistent with His character. Ephesians 4 says:
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

The celebrities are out and responding to public pressure to denounce the offensive ways of Harvey Weinstein, even in light of his contributions to their own personal success.  One of the most outfront victims of his alleged assaults is an actor whom I have to admit I have never heard of - Rose McGowan.  She has been very active on Twitter denouncing the studio mogul, except for that time period during which she was banned by the social media service.

According to a CBS News report...

...McGowan said late Wednesday that Twitter had suspended her from tweeting after the social media company said she broke its rules. On her Instagram account, McGowan said "there are powerful forces at work" and pleaded for others to "be my voice."

Twitter issued a statement late Thursday morning explaining the decision. It said McGowan's account "was temporarily locked because one of her Tweets included a private phone number, which violates of our Terms of Service."

She's been restored and Twitter made a conciliatory statement, according to the article.  It said: "Twitter is proud to empower and support the voices on our platform, especially those that speak truth to power," adding, "We stand with the brave women and men who use Twitter to share their stories, and will work hard every day to improve our processes to protect those voices."

McGowan has been back in full force over the past day or so, taking aim at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for, according to CNBC, "allegedly ignoring her warnings about Harvey Weinstein."

The Weinstein allegations are difficult to talk about and very serious.  But, so are the issues being raised by a member of Congress from Tennessee who is a favorite to win the Senate seat to be vacated by Bob Corker.

Seems Rep. Marsha Blackburn wanted to run an ad on Twitter, which, according to Fox News, said:
"I'm 100% pro-life. I found Planned Parenthood, and we stopped the sale of baby body parts — thank God."  Twitter claimed the ad included "an inflammatory statement that is likely to evoke a strong negative reaction" and originally stated it would, according to Fox, "air the Senate candidate's ad, but only if the line about 'the sale of baby body parts' was removed."

The story notes that Twitter has now changed course and decided to allow the ad. According to the Fox story:

Blackburn said she believes Twitter reversed its decision because "the American people rose up."

"I think what has happened, the American people rose up. They are sick and tired of the liberal elites and the liberal media telling them what they're going to listen to, and what is going to be pushed forward and broadcast and what is not, and in this example it was Twitter," Blackburn said.

Two pro-life groups are demanding that Twitter not block their ad content. In a press release from the Susan B. Anthony List, it is stated:

Twitter has arbitrarily blocked advertising from Live Action and Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) in recent years, just as the company did recently with a political advertisement submitted by Rep. Marsha Blackburn in which she discussed her efforts “to stop the sale of body parts” by Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business. Twitter reversed its decision after receiving widespread criticism.

The press release also includes this morsel: 

In an interview with Axios this morning, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said her company would have run Rep. Blackburn’s ad and that “When you cut off speech for one person, you cut off speech for all people.”

Oh, by the way, Sandberg gave $1 million dollars to Planned Parenthood earlier this year and is a longtime donor, according to The Daily Signal.

And, her statement is a bit laughable - you might ask Kirk Cameron, who experienced his content being blocked concerning his 2013 movie release, Unstoppable.  A release on the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry website quoted Kirk's Facebook page:

Facebook has officially "blocked" me and you (and everyone else) from posting any link to my new movie at UnstoppableTheMovieDOTcom, labeling the content as "abusive", "unsafe", and "spammy"!

Facebook ultimately allowed the link.

Or, how about Elizabeth Johnston, also known as The Activist Mommy.  According to CBN News:

She argued that the Bible does not condone homosexuality and quoted scriptures from the Old and New Testament to support her. Facebook quickly removed the post and suspended Johnston's account on three separate occasions. Facebook told Johnston her post did not "follow the Facebook Community Standards."

"They are muzzling me and my biblical message while Mark Zuckerberg claims that FB is unbiased," she said in a statement. "The post Facebook deleted included no name-calling, no threats, and no harassment. It was intellectual discussion and commentary on the Bible."

Facebook finally apologized and reinstated Johnston's account after coming under heavy fire from the media.

And, didn't Facebook recently introduce a feature that allows users to label content as "fake news?"

We recognize the lay of the land: there are those who will want to shame Christians into silence.  Intimidate us because of our views consistent with the Scriptures.  People claim to support free expression of ideas, but when it comes right down to it, there is a tendency that humans have to shut down speech with which they do not agree.

Certainly, I do think that there are types of expression that are culturally and morally inappropriate, and should not be available for mass consumption. There are forms of content, such as pornography, that are so harmful that they should be rooted out at all costs. And, you can't hide behind free speech when lives are being destroyed.

Funny thing is, there are those who are so hostile to faith and religious expression that they would like to see those elements erased from our culture.  I think they would be hard-pressed to admit that they would like to live in the anarchy that would result from an absence of Christian ideals in our culture.  God's principles still provide us with the restraints that are necessary in order to facilitate order and to build quality relationships.  The lack of awareness of common decency and the recognition of humans as having value has enormous negative implications; unfortunately, we are already seeing that occur.

To those who are hostile to faith, we hopefully can say to them, "look at me!"  Not in a narcissistic way, but saying to the world, "follow me as I follow Christ."  The way we live, the way we love, could send a strong message to the world about who Jesus is.