Hate speech laws are futile if we don't address real issues

When Moses Kuria and Johnstone Muthama were recently thrown into the cells for alleged hate speech offences, I muttered. These two gentlemen have never, and are almost certain that they may never have to pay any penalty. Furthermore, they simply have the courage to do in public what many of us do behind the mask of social media. The vitriol that spews from our mouths should send all of us to the coolers.

No wonder legal sanctions have had to be applied – in the name of hate speech laws – to try and curb our excesses. But, will the sanctions work?

Abundance of the heart

In an interesting incident, the Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of eating without washing their hands as per the law.

Jesus’ rebuttal was that, it is not what goes into the mouth of a person that defiles or contaminates the person, but rather that which comes out of his or her mouth. Because defilement, about which the Pharisees were greatly concerned, is primarily a matter of the heart.

It is in the heart that dwells all kinds of evil, and out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. In other words, if you want to know the state of any man or woman’s heart, you do not need their ECG – just listen to their speech. It will reveal more than they would otherwise volunteer.

In our context, this is significant in at least three ways. First, judging from what we hear coming out of our mouths in general and those of our leaders in particular, our hearts are in bad shape. From the highest man in the land to the lowest beggar on the street, our hearts are rotten to the core – serious candidates for ICU.

Yet, the legal system has not recognised that the disease is airborne and highly dangerous.

George Lakoff, a Professor of Cognitive Science, argues that language neurally activates thought and can thus change brains, both for the better and the worse. Therefore, hate speech changes the brains of those hated for the worse, creating toxic stress, fear, and distrust – all of which are physical.

Professor Lakoff therefore asserts, “This internal harm can be even more severe than an attack with a fist.” Hate mongers must therefore be contained before they ruin our national psyche.

Uncontrollable

But second, to force a person with a contaminated heart to keep still and quiet, is to cause them to bottle up serious poisonous venom within their rib cage. They might eventually die, or may arise one day in uncontrollable violent expression.

This has happened in many nations, not least in our own in 2007.

Perhaps that is why in Britain, there are designated areas generally known as Speakers Corner – such as in Hyde Park in London – where anybody can speak on any subject to whosoever cares to listen.

Though the freedom initially had certain limits, Lord Justice Sedley in a 1999 ruling appeared to establish that freedom of speech could not be limited to the inoffensive, but extended also to “the irritating, the contentious, the eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome, and the provocative, as long as such speech did not tend to provoke violence.”

Perhaps this is from where Kuria, Muthama, and others of their ilk draw their legal comfort. Yet, for sure, we need our own Hyde Park.

Third, and most importantly, legal sanctions alone are not going to help us. To enforce hate speech laws without dealing with the real heart issues, may be as futile as the Pharisees enforcing hand washing laws while ignoring weightier matters of social justice.

We must therefore look deep and address the issues that have led to this contamination of our hearts. It is important and urgent – otherwise we will soon exterminate ourselves.

- The writer is the Presiding Bishop of Christ is the Answer Ministries (CITAM).

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