FREE SPEECH

Having grown up in the (pseudo)democratic tradition, I always thought of free speech as close to sacrosanct. I always feared the public losing free speech and saw any reduction in free speech as a most serious threat to our liberties and rights.

Living now in Israel, which is gradually curbing free speech; I am discovering something marvelous.
There is greater power in limited speech than in free speech.

For years I noticed that free speech is used by the government to dissipate our power, sublimate our emotions and scatter our thoughts. I saw that rather than allowing the public to concentrate their energies on an issue of injustice; they encouraged free speech - lots and lots and lots of free speech, which is often, in practice, a lot of cheap speech.
And nothing actually got done because the Thought and Emotion that might have otherwise moved reality in a different direction if it was focused, was defracted.

I am noticing that now, having to think about what I say and mind the phraseology more carefully; my thoughts are not only gaining in clarity, they are gaining in focus and Power.
I fee that both my Thoughts and my Emotions have far more power now that I express them less freely than when I resorted to expressing them maximally freely.

I'm noticing to that it is happening more and more that people are saying to me when I do speak: I was just thinking the same thing! or I was just reading about that today!
My Mind, as I speak less, is coming more and more in touch with other Minds. And it is becoming increasingly clear to me that their Thoughts are influencing mine and mine theirs.
I am learning better how to reach a Unity of Thought.

Is it not true that every religious tradition has not encouraged free speech - that, quite the opposite, long periods of silence were encouraged and that speech had to be very deliberate?

And didn't those who are the most powerful moral role models and inspirations live during times in which speech was not free?

And is it not true that the texts that they wrote are very subtle and multi-layered - requiring us to look deep within them - and that very looking in deeply requires that we too be silent?

And is it not true that we attribute power to those who are the "strong silent type".

Ideally, we should be absolutely free to say anything, anytime and, within that freedom *choose* our words very carefully and cultivate the concentrated power of Thought and Emotion.
That is the ideal. But we see that in a culture of free speech there is, in fact, a lot of yammering.

I am not advocating abrogating free speech. I am saying that the loss of free speech is not the loss of your Power. It may very well be an Opportunity for reconnection with your Power.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel

DoreenDotan@gmail.com