The ARM Climate Research Facility safety policy states that all activities for which the ARM Climate Research Facility has primary
responsibility will be conducted
in such a
manner that all
reasonable precautions are taken to protect the health and safety of employees and the general public.
It presages a law captured by the rhetoric of the right to freedom of expression without due regard to the value underlying the particular exercise of that right; a law
in which, under the guise of the right to freedom of expression, the «right» to offend can be exercised without
responsibility or restraint providing it does not cause a disruption or disturbance
in the nature of public disorder; a law
in which an impoverished amoral concept of «public order» is judicially ordained; a law
in which the right to freedom of expression trumps — or tramples upon — other rights and values which are the vital rights and properties of a free and democratic society; a law to which any number of vulnerable individuals and minorities may be exposed to uncivil, and even odious, ethnic, sexist, homophobic, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and anti-Islamic taunts providing no public disorder results; a law
in which good and decent people can be used as fodder to promote a cause or promote an action for which they are not responsible and over which they have no direct control; a law which demeans the dignity of the persons adversely affected by those asserting their right to freedom of expression
in a disorderly or offensive
manner; a law
in which the mores or standards of society are set without regard to the
reasonable expectations of citizens
in a free and democratic society; and a law marked by a lack of empathy by the sensibilities, feelings and emotional frailties of people who can be deeply and genuinely affronted by language and behaviour that is beyond the pale
in a civil and civilised society.
If we want meaningful outcomes; if we want effective and sustainable agreements; if we want certainty for all involved, and if we want processes that operate
in a
reasonable manner and timeframe, then we must all take
responsibility and reaffirm our resolve to work with a common purpose and enthusiasm.