The “Safe Space” of the Constitution
The “Safe Space” of the Constitution
by Jake MacAulay
The Duke Men’s Project—launched this month at Duke University—offers a campus “safe space” where a nine-week program for “male-identified” students will discuss male privilege, patriarchy, “the language of dominance,” rape culture, pornography, machismo, and other topics.
Last Thursday, the student government at Middle Tennessee State University overwhelmingly voted to ban “safe spaces” from their college campus; safe spaces which have squashed the free speech rights of these college students. The landslide vote was 33-6, proving intellectualism and common sense is still alive in the Volunteer State.
To be fair, freedom of speech has always been a double-edged sword. Constitutional law states few exceptions for free speech; such as speech presenting a clear and present danger to national security or public safety, or speech soliciting crime, violence, obscenity, and defamation. Americans have always been able to express their values and opinions freely.
Founding father Patrick Henry spoke of a safe space in the late 1700s, reflecting,
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”
It amazes me to see how many scholars and intellectuals of the current generation are seeking absolute emotional insulation and comfort at all times from opposing viewpoints. To me, this is extremely elementary and anti-intellectual.
I would like to suggest that the safe space we need in America is found in the Biblical principles of the Constitution itself, starting in the hearts of the people and ending in the halls of state and federal legislatures, along with their executive and judicial departments. I wonder why the trend in our universities isn’t “Constitutional Safe Spaces?”
How about a “safe country” where the citizens are secure from having to pay taxes to fund a central government’s unconstitutional nationalization of banks, insurance industries, automobile industries, the health care industry, local police forces, or the use of their military for immoral, wasteful wars for empire?
A safe country where citizens are free from the vast and expansive regulations of unconstitutional agencies such as the EPA, HHS, DOE, IRS, and BTFE, just to name a few.
A safe country where children are free from unconstitutional compulsory government schools that separate the child from their parents, and promote antipathy toward their nation’s founders and their Christian faith.
A safe country that offers protection from sexually charged curriculum that promotes immoral and unethical sexual behavior, abortion-on-demand, and the gross perversion of same-sex marriage.
I can assure you that this safe space does exist, and it is clearly defined in the Bible and our Constitution, not outside of them. I encourage every American to spend as much time as they can in these safe spaces.