What makes murder in the first degree is premeditation. Also known as, words, writing, ideas, plans that promote and lead to criminal activity. Free speech is a defense of free expression, not protection for those who use their words to foment crime. There are consequences to freely expressing ideas and opinions that end in violence. Murder is not the only act subject to premeditation. So is segregation. Institutionalized racial bias. Unequal access to religious freedoms. Assaults on women and other marginalized groups. Your words are the compass-bearing that guides your actions. And when the reaction is criminal, your words are judged more harshly and answered with more finite penalties, because you used them like tools.

No one who promotes hateful, violent, prejudiced and illegal ideas is being persecuted by being denied a stage. Organizations and private citizens are protecting themselves from being complicit in your crime. If free speech mean no holds barred, all cards on the table, anyone of us can say anything that pops into our heads, consequence free, then what is murder in the first degree? What is a charge like conspiracy, or treason?

Unless the argument is for judgement-free speech, which I’m going to go ahead and let you know, will never happen. You will be judged by your words and actions, no matter what side of the equation you happen to fall on. And there is a long-storied, historical precedent in this country of using your words against you, when those words directly harm the trust and systemic foundation that feeds and defends you.

Think you’re better than women. If only your thoughts were the molten earth beneath our feet. If only your thoughts steered the stars, and shaped our orbit around ours. If only your thoughts were oxygen, and we all, mutually, depended on them to breath.
Fortunately, the human race needs women more than your opinions.

Think yours is a better race, or religion, or that you’re more important than people who don’t love or live like you. If only everyone in the world agreed with your choices. If only all of us could see all of you and find no qualm with any part. Being white, and being Christian, and speaking English, are not the equivalent of being sinless. Your right to systematically judge and restrict any group, is an argument to use the same metric adversely against you. And though you seem intent on claiming you do, you don’t want that. It would take more than angry words for you to convince me of that.

Of course, you are free to try.
But to an equal extent and your dismay,
the validity or criminality or necessity of what you say,
is still and always will be for us to decide.