On Monday evening (March 31) Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly had a segment on her nightly television program that dealt with disturbing news. Kelly exposed the recent successful efforts of the Center for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) to stifle the free speech rights of a documentary film-maker and the participants in the film.

According to Kelly’s report, last Thursday, March 27, CAIR succeeded in shutting down the movie’s screening at the University of Michigan in Dearborn. The film, titled Honor Diaries, depicts women of various religious backgrounds who have dealth with “honor violence” at the hands of male relatives. “Honor is something that is carried and contained in women and is there to be guarded by men,” explains one woman in the film. “It’s systematic, institutionalized misogyny,” declares another woman.

The movie’s initial debut was actually held on March 8, so it has already been seen by thousands. Still, last week the film’s airing in Dearborn was censored from public viewing by the university at the behest of CAIR, which claimed that it is “Islamophobic.” Other universities have also been hit with protests from CAIR and have refused to allow the film to be shown on campus. In addition, CAIR tried to stop Kelly and Fox News from airing her segment on  Monday night reporting on the censorship of the film in Dearborn. Kelly and Fox bravely refused to be scared into caving to the censorship demand. A video of Monday’s segment by Megyn Kelly is available here.

It is critical to note that in their attacks against the film and Megyn Kelly, CAIR did not claim that the events described in the movie are untrue. That’s because the women whose “diaries” are profiled in the movie are telling the truth. There is no argument from CAIR on that point. Rather, CAIR simply argues that the content will make people fear Muslims and/or their religion. And that also may be true. But since when did free speech under the First Amendment get restricted in its application only to speech that will not elicit fear? If that were the criteria,  no liberal should ever be allowed to open his or her mouth! They scare the bejeebers out of me when I think about the damage they are doing with their hair-brained, dangerous ideas and actions across this country.