However, my overwhelming feelings about the press are ones of gratitude. In the long unfolding of the so-called Rushdie Affair, American newspapers have been of great importance in keeping the issues alive, in making sure that readers have kept sight of the essential points of principle involved, and even in pressuring America's leaders to speak out and act. But I am grateful for more than that. I said earlier that newspaper editors, like novelists, need to create, impart and maintain a vision of society to readers. In any vision of a free society, the value of free speech must rank the highest, for that is the freedom without which all other freedoms would fail. Journalists do more than most of us to protect those values; for the exercise of freedom is its best defense.
然而，我卻對(duì)媒體抱有勢(shì)不可擋的感激之情。在所謂的拉什迪事件那漫長(zhǎng)的演變進(jìn)程中，美國(guó)的報(bào)紙?jiān)谀承┓矫嬉恢逼鹬鴺O其重要的作用。他們使得這一事件一直為人所關(guān)注，并且確保了讀者始終清楚事件的基本情況，甚至還迫使美國(guó)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人對(duì)此事發(fā)表看法并采取行動(dòng)。但是我還要對(duì)更多方面致以謝意。我之前提到過(guò)，和小說(shuō)家一樣報(bào)紙的編輯就是要?jiǎng)?chuàng)造、給予并保有一個(gè)對(duì)社會(huì)的看法與讀者分享。在任何對(duì)于自由社會(huì)的看法中，言論自由的價(jià)值一定是最髙的，因?yàn)闆](méi)有了這一自由，其他所有的自由都無(wú)法實(shí)現(xiàn)。新聞工作者在保護(hù)這些價(jià)值方面比我們大多數(shù)人做得更多；因?yàn)檫\(yùn)用自由就是捍衛(wèi)它的最佳方式。
It seems to me, however, that we live in an increasingly censorious age. By this I mean that the broad, indeed international, acceptance of First Amendment principles is being steadily eroded. Many special-interest groups, claiming the moral high ground, now demand the protection of the censor. Political correctness and the rise of the religious right provide the pro-censorship lobby with further cohorts. I would like to say a little about just one of the weapons of this resurgent lobby, a weapon used, interestingly, by everyone from anti-pornography feminists to religious fundamentalists: I mean the concept of “respect."
不過(guò)在我看來(lái)，我們似乎生活在一個(gè)日益挑剔的時(shí)代。我的意思是說(shuō)，對(duì)美國(guó)憲法第一修正案廣泛而又真正國(guó)際化的認(rèn)同正受到一點(diǎn)一點(diǎn)地侵蝕。許多聲稱占據(jù)了道德髙地的特殊利益集團(tuán)如今要求得到審查員的保護(hù)。政治上的正確性以及基督教右派勢(shì)力的崛起為支持新聞審査的游說(shuō)者帶來(lái)了更多志同道合之人。我想僅僅談一下這個(gè)再次興起的群體所使用的眾多武器中的一種，有趣的是從反對(duì)色情文學(xué)的女權(quán)主義者到宗教原教旨主義者所有人都在使用這個(gè)武器：我是指“尊重”這個(gè)概念。
On the surface of it, "respect" is one of those ideas nobody is against. Like a good warm coat in winter, like applause, like ketchup on your fries, everybody wants some of that. But what was used to mean by respect—that is, a mixture of good-hearted consideration and serious attention—has little to do with the new ideological usage of the word.
從表面看來(lái)，“尊重”是無(wú)人反對(duì)的概念之一。就像一件冬日里質(zhì)地優(yōu)良的保暖外衣，就像掌聲，就像炸薯?xiàng)l上的番茄醬，人人都想分享一點(diǎn)兒。但是“尊重”一詞過(guò)去常常所包含的意思——一種善意的諒解與嚴(yán)肅的關(guān)注的綜合體——已經(jīng)同這個(gè)詞匯所具有的意識(shí)形態(tài)上的新用法沒(méi)有多少關(guān)系了。
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