To a Degree

  If you have been a thinking, feeling human being during the last decade or so, you no doubt have been influenced to “think before you speak.” It’s not a hard concept, really. Since Adam and Eve, human beings have had the ability to process sensory data, form a conclusion about said data, and then speak or respond to other human beings (or even God) through speech (and later, writing). Wise human beings have always endeavored to speak the truth . The concept of what is “true” is elementary; it is some fact or speech that resembles reality in the closest possible fashion. For example, a person who observes another human being committing a crime such as looting or murder is entitled to report what he or she has observed. There can be no doubt that criminals are not entitled to stop the speech that will identify their wrongdoing. All this assumes, of course, that the person observing the crime speaks a language that can convey the details of a crime to those in authority to stop the