(Photo: Evan Margerum)
Franklin High School in Franklin, Ohio now has a very eco-friendly ballpark. On one recent night, someone planted a 25-foot tall tree right between the home plate and the pitcher’s mound. The city government arranged for its removal.
Michael Sander, the school district superintendent, isn’t laughing at the joke. He says that if police are able to find out who is responsible, he’ll bill them for the cost of removing the tree.
-via AP
Comments (1)
His thesis was that in order to preserve democratic freedoms, it may be necessary to use force to quell intolerance. It's an interesting paradox. Even though people have the right to free speech, using that right to impede on others' rights and well-being will undermine its very foundation.
Conflict is necessary to continue looking for ways to improve the quality of life for society as a whole. But when conflict becomes violent and intolerance resorts to force in order to have what it wants, then the only way to preserve the democratic society is not to tolerate intolerance which might necessitate force.
On a different note, we also need to consider that democracy is an ideal and it has the possibility of taking on different meanings for different people and societies. But that, for now, is beside the point.