Free Speech: Why you shouldn’t fear writing here

I was recently in the Republic of Georgia. It is an un-democratic country with a president who rules like a mafioso and a people who resist criticizing their government for fear of . . . problems.

While there, I bought a cell phone. A BeeLine. “Be careful,” someone warned me, “BeeLine is a Russian company. They’re listening.” Later, I saw some words spray painted on a building wall, “F&$* Putin” [censorship added]. I called my uncle in the U.S., and brought up that I saw this, and I repeated it to him, word for word. “Stop!” he exclaimed. “We shouldn’t talk about this over the phone.”

One thing that un-democratic countries rely on is a culture of paranoia. Are there censors and monitors working for ill-purposes. Of course. But, it isn’t the direct threat of action that they rely on. It’s the possibility.

Spreading the theme that outspokenness, criticism, or controversial ideas is dangerous is an important tactic. And naturally, we as humans assign ourselves a fair amount of self-importance, so of course they would pay attention to what we say in particular.

And Islam? Can’t write about Islam in America. What about the CIA? The FBI? Homeland Security? The risks are astronomical.

Sorry to hurt your ego. But unless you are a high-level government official divulging top-secret information, or directly inciting violent action against innocent people, you’re safe.

Watch:

1. Osama bin Laden was right about some of the things he said. He talked about how the United States foreign policies in the Muslim world were less concerned with spreading democracy than self-interested economic concerns. I agree with Osama bin Laden. He was right. But killing people is wrong, and Osama bin Laden was wrong when he said the West is at war with Islam.

2. The Israeli Government is a right-wing group of prejudice idiots. But the people of Israel are innocent, and anyone who says anything bad about the country of Israel is wrong. If you want to help the Palestinians, blame the Israeli Government or the Palestinian leadership, but not the innocent people who just happen to live in the country of Israel.

3. I am an atheist. I do not believe in the existence of God. I believe religion is man-made. But I am also tolerant. I admit that because the existence of God cannot be proven, there is no way to determine who is right or wrong. For that reason, Islam is not the best religion. Nor is Buddhism or Judaism or Christianity. ALL religions are equal.

4. Muslims in America are no different from Christians in America. Religion plays absolutely no role whatsoever in somebody committing violence. When Christians across Europe join radical nationalist or socialist political parties and commit acts of terrorism, which has been a regular phenomenon over the past 50 years, including today, they aren’t doing it because they are Christians, but for political reasons. When Muslims in Pakistan join forces with violent elements who intend to do harm to others, they are not doing it because they are Muslims, they are doing it for other reasons of socio-economic environmental determinism.

5. Americans who dislike Muslims are hateful and racist and ignorant. So are non-American Muslims who hate Americans.

6. I don’t support the United States Military. I think that it is a waste of money and time that could be put to better uses in the United States and abroad, like education and healthcare. I don’t like the fact that U.S. soldiers are stationed throughout the world. I don’t like when they kill someone. And I don’t like it when someone else kills an American soldier. I support American soldiers individually, as people. And I want the best for them and their families, just as I do for everybody else in the world. But I don’t support the U.S. Military.

My wife and her family are all Muslims from al-Madinah. I love her, and I love Islam. But I don’t like some aspects of Islamic society. I don’t like the way children are hit by their parents or wives by their husbands. This doesn’t happen everywhere, but it is more common than people admit. This has nothing to do with Islam, it has to do with the culture of the society, which happens to be predominantly Muslim.

I witnessed this same violence against wives and children in Georgia. Georgia is an Orthodox Christian country. “It’s the society stupid, not the religion” (to coin a Clinton era slogan).

I just said all of these things, and . . . guess what? Nothing will happen.

I don’t need to write under a fake name or be paranoid. Why? There’s nothing to be afraid of.

Sorry to burst your ego, but we are all just a bunch of average, everyday people trying to create a dialogue between us in order that we may better understand each others’ perspectives.

Unless you’re some high-level government official threatening a coup de’tat, I think you’ll be okay.

And if you’re still unsure about writing here, I think it’s safe to say that you watch too many movies and TV shows.

The reality is, we’re all safe here.

Salaam.

About the author

Ethan Lazuk

Born in Montana in 1989, I attended high school in Phoenix, Arizona, and college at The University of Montana, from which I recently earned a Bachelor's degree in Central and Southwest Asian Studies. I currently live in Washington D.C.
Although American English is my first language, I also have an intermediate/advanced knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic, with some Lebanese and Gulf vocabulary, as well as a basic knowledge of Farsi-Persian. My academic areas of interest include Cultural Anthropology, Islamic Studies, and Environmental and Human Geography. In 2010, I was a summer intern with the Department of Defense, working on Ft. McNair Army Base in the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. Additionally, I have traveled in Istanbul, Turkey, and lived in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.


I am a third-generation American of Polish descent. My great-grandparents fled Eastern Europe during the Bolshevik Revolution and entered the United States through Ellis Island. Today, my parents and sister live in Colorado, where they are surrounded by the beautiful Rocky Mountains. I am also happily married to the love of my life named Dania. Originally from al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia, she came to the United States two years ago as an exchange student. She is a practicing Muslim. But I am a searcher who finds beauty in all religions, and therefore I do not belong to any one religion in particular. But her and I having different religious beliefs has not negatively affected our marriage. In fact, it has brought us closer together. We respectfully embrace our differences, while cherishing our infinite similarities. If being in an inter-faith marriage has taught me one thing, it is that religious differences are not a cause for division, but for collaboration.

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