Letters to the Editor: There’s nothing liberal about trying to criminalize porn

To the editor: In warning that anti-pornography conservatives are trying to make common cause with some on the left, Matt Welch tries to smear American liberals as being opposed to individual liberty, a lie used throughout history to justify discrimination based on religion.

Thomas Jefferson and George Mason, defenders of individual liberty for the public good rather than private greed, insisted a bill of rights was essential to our new nation — a “legal check which it puts into the hands of the judiciary” against legislation that stifles liberty, as Jefferson wrote to James Madison.

We must always be vigilant against a narrow definition of liberty that allows people to discriminate against others in public, whether it’s about porn, abortion or race. Those who truly value liberty are free to ignore porn or not get an abortion.

Keith Ensminger, Merced