Protesting Protesters

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31768, 27 August 1968, Page 16

Protesting Protesters

Those who protest against any restraint on the right to protest are swayed by emotion rather than reason. Some speakers at the synod of the North Canterbury district of the Methodist Church last week took the curious view that the Christchurch City Council was acting unreasonably in taking steps to ensure that street demonstrations do not interfere with traffic at busy periods. “What is the point of having a “ demonstration when there is not much traffic “ around, and when there are not plenty of people to “ see it? ” This question, asked by a synod speaker, seems to take it for granted that protesters have an unquestionable right to thrust their opinions down the throats of their fellow-citizens, and that the

public have no right to be protected, while going about their lawful occasions, either from inconvenience and delay or from forcible exposure to opinions with which they might have no sympathy, expressed in a manner which might seem to them quite objectionable. Freedom of speech is a valued privilege of the democratic way of life. Freedom to listen or not to listen should be equally valued.