Say what you want - as long as I agree

There's something interesting going on at the Facebook Web site: A group called Soldiers Are Not Heroes has sparked quite a backlash. An acquaintance recently sent me invitation to join the group. I did not join, because I join very, very few groups.

Some of the "Soldier Are Not Heroes" group's messages are somewhat extreme, but it claims not to be anti-soldier. It purports to be simply against the hero worship of soldiers. That's fair enough - however, the group's language is filled with mixed messages.

The group's opponents - and there are many - claim not to be anti-free speech. One even writes "Although people are entitled to their opinions, there are ways in which they should be made public and that group is not the right way to do so!" Yet their goal is to pressure Facebook to remove the page, and they don't specify the correct way to air one's opinions.

I can see an interesting legal battle brewing should Facebook cave in.

The opponents' claims that they believe in free speech ring hollow, even more so than the group's claims not be anti-soldier. My call? A line often attributed to Voltaire, though it's not clear he actually wrote it:

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."