The American Civil Liberties Union knows a thing or two about dissent. Since 1917 when it was called the National Civil Liberties Bureau, the organization has understood its mission and pursued it zealously.

The ACLU would be an advocate of the friendless, the unpopular, the ignoble and the voiceless. Because the strength of a democracy rises or falls based on how much society respects civil liberties and free speech rights for all, the ACLU works diligently for the rights of the dissenter.

When John Scopes went to trial for teaching evolution in Tennessee in 1925, the ACLU sent Clarence Darrow to defend him. In 1977 when the American Nazi Party petitioned to march through a neighborhood of Holocaust survivors in Skokie, Ill., the ACLU filed suit against town ordinances that kept the racists at bay.

At a time when civil liberties are under assault by the Patriot Act, Americans need the ACLU more than ever. But a debate within the organization threatens to undermine the coherence of its historic mission.

At issue are proposed internal standards that would prohibit board members from publicly criticizing ACLU officers or other board members. Objecting to ACLU policies would continue to be fair game, as long as individuals aren't singled out.

The attempt to introduce even narrow prohibitions against free speech within an organization that champions them has alarmed many within the group's core constituency. At the same time, ACLU critics will pounce on the irony of a civil-liberties house divided and use it as an excuse to criticize its general mission.

The controversial proposals haven't been adopted by the ACLU board yet, but a motion to strip it of its most offensive prohibitions was defeated. By merely tabling the proposals, it, unfortunately, remains an option.

For now, the board has opted to discuss the issue with no specific time line in mind. Talk is good, but action is better. The sooner the board is unanimous about giving its members the same free-speech rights it fights to guarantee for the rest of us, the sooner the ACLU can get back to work protecting us all.