Publisher's Note: One of the most significant things you can do to promote Liberty is to support our mission. Please make your gift to the 2024 Year-End Campaign today. Thank you! —Mark Alexander, Publisher

December 16, 2019

As a New Parent, I Want to Give My Son Everything — Except a ‘Free-Speech Zone’

A few weeks ago, my husband Josh and I welcomed our first baby into the world, and it has been a whirlwind. In the first weeks home, all I could think about was making him as happy as possible.

A few weeks ago, my husband Josh and I welcomed our first baby into the world, and it has been a whirlwind. In the first weeks home, all I could think about was making him as happy as possible. And it got me thinking:

I know I will always be protective of my son — it’s kind of my job. But when he gets older, I want to give him the gift of being at ease while feeling intellectually uncomfortable – of knowing how to handle these difficult situation without suffering a complete meltdown, like we see with too many students on college campuses these days.

Interacting, working, and perhaps disagreeing with people who see the world differently than you takes courage. Agreeing to disagree while maintaining relationships takes confidence. Unfortunately, our higher education system has taught the next generation of America’s leaders the exact opposite, and, as a result, our free speech is under attack.

What began as a leftist movement to censor “hate speech” has morphed into a demand to censor any kind of speech with which you disagree. This dangerous mob rule is highlighted by the documentary "No Safe Spaces,“ which examines the far-left culture of political correctness that has invaded college campuses and society at large.

We need this documentary now more than ever. The United States was founded on the belief in free speech. This isn’t a partisan value but rather a fundamentally American value. We have fought wars to earn and protect the right to express ourselves freely without fear of reprisal.

As a new parent, I want to give my son everything but a "free-speech zone.” I desire for him to grow up in a society where the First Amendment is protected and celebrated — imbuing him with the confidence to hold and share his beliefs. I want him to engage in healthy civil discourse and gain a well-rounded perspective of the world.

When his ideas are challenged, I don’t want him to view the challenger as the enemy. He needs to understand that disagreement is not assault and does not make him a victim of any kind. This is what my husband and I will teach our children — and judging by how well the documentary is performing, we are not alone in this.

According to Fox News, the “No Safe Spaces” documentary opened with “the second-highest ever box office gross for a documentary playing on just one screen.” It is being shown in theaters nationwide, and radical progressive activists are already trying to shut it down — ironically, by using the same tactics of intimidation demonstrated by far-left campus activists in the movie.

At a California showing, two masked men barged into the theater to intimidate viewers into leaving. One moviegoer described the men as “two thugs sporting hoodies, masks, sunglasses and carrying huge duffel bags [who] ran, not walked, up the aisle and sat at the back of the theater right behind us. They looked like bank robbers, home invasion criminals … they were trying to act scary.”

Unfortunately, it worked. Some moviegoers left with their children because of the risk posed by these men. They suspected the masked men were bluffing, but were not willing to bet their children’s lives on it. Who can blame them?

I do not know all the future holds for my son. Regardless of his chosen career or the requirement of a bachelor or post-graduate degree from a college or university, I know at some point in his life he will be intellectually challenged by someone. When it happens, I can only hope that I have raised him to embrace the polite (or impolite) discourse.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.