Not only is it ignoble to prevent speech or to answer it with violence (as in the Rove blockade), those tactics do nothing to further debate or resolve problems. Last year's myriad protests against President Bush's visit to Salt Lake City provided a lot of noise, but months later it is hard to remember anything that was said.

Perhaps the irony of the Information Age is that it is a time in which very little true information is changing hands. It is, however, a time when each individual has an unprecedented set of bullhorns with which to make his or her own opinions known, from Web sites to T-shirts. Points are scored through clever insults, and people with unpopular views are simply shouted down whenever they appear before an audience that disagrees with them.

The other day, University of Utah President Michael Young was quoted in this newspaper as saying the world is in need of "serious people." Citing a number of problems brewing in the world, he said, "The day of Michael Moore, Sean Hannity and Bill Maher is over. They are useless in helping us devise solutions."

But to be a serious person, you must become a serious listener. And you can be a serious listener only if you truly believe in freedom of speech.

That means you may have to hear things from time to time that offend you, or with which you disagree. But it also means you might find some common ground with your opponents — and that would be a step toward finding solutions.

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Jay Evensen is editor of the Deseret Morning News editorial page. E-mail: even@desnews.com