Captive audiences

[Michael McConnell]

In addition to Eugene Volokh's list of contexts in which the
government is not entitled to censor speech that offends, there is
one more: such restrictions cannot be viewpoint discriminatory. That
is clear from Lehman. And to declare that religious speech is per se
offensive is viewpoint discriminatory. (Rosenberger; Lamb's Chapel.)
To be sure, *some* religious speech can be offensive based on
viewpoint-neutral criteria (for example, if it abuses other
individuals), but the same is true of political speech and lots of
other speech. We cannot treat private speech as "offensive" merely
because it reflects opinions (such as religious convictions) that we
do not share.
-- Michael McConnell (U of Utah)