Is Denis Diderot Spinning in his grave?

In an example of political correctness gone wild, Bridget Bardot, the beautiful 1960’s sex kitten is on trial in France for "inciting racial hatred." Amazingly she has four previous convictions for the same thing. Read about her latest prosecution in Time Magazine.

The current charge against Bardot was lodged by the Movement Against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples (MRAP), citing a letter Bardot wrote to French officials in 2004 in which she alluded to Muslims as "this population that leads us around by the nose, [and] which destroys our country." The former actress-turned-animal rights crusader had written that letter to protest the ritual slaughter of sheep during the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Kabir.

Her previous prosecutions are described thusly.

In 1997, for example, Bardot was first convicted on the charge of "inciting racial hatred" for her open letter to French daily Le Figaro, complaining of "foreign over-population", mostly by Muslim families.

The following year she was convicted anew for decrying the loss of French identity and tradition due to the multiplication of mosques "while our church bells fall silent for want of priests." Darkening Bardot's public image in both cases was her marriage to an active supporter and political ally of French National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.

In 2000, Bardot was again convicted — this time for comments in her book Pluto's Square, whose chapter "Open Letter to My Lost France" grieved for "...my country, France, my homeland, my land is again invaded by an overpopulation of foreigners, especially Muslims." And in 2004, another Bardot book, A Cry In the Silence, again took up the question of immigration and Islam — ultimately running afoul of anti-racism laws by generally associating Islam with the 9/11 terror attacks, and denouncing the "Islamization of France" by people she described as "invaders."

Obviously, everything Bardot said and wrote would be protected by the First Amendment. Ironically, it was great 18th Century French philosophers who inspired many of the ideas embodied in our constitution, including freedom of speech. Denis Diderot., who was persecuted for his Encyclopédie had this to say on free speech.

“All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone's feelings”

While I think it is healthy to consider others’ feelings before you speak or write, we have an absolute right to be offensive. The government should never punish a person because a person or group is offended. The First Amendment is not a defense to criticism of course. It often seems a person says something offensive and then starts repeating “Free Speech, First Amendment, Free Speech First Amendment.” But that is only a defense if the government is coming after you. The proper response to offensive speech is more speech. Say or write something offensive and you will be criticized. That’s what the First Amendment is all about, a free exchange of ideas and the right to try and convince others.

Would I offend anyone if I said this is one reason the United States of America is far superior to France? Too bad.