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Marc2b -> RE: Well done Pastor Jones. (9/13/2012 12:10:37 PM)
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quote:
Disagree. Freedom of speech carries with it responsibility to respect the social and cultural standards of your audience. When you disrespect the society and culture of your audience you abuse the right of free speech.
I disagree.
First of all, your audience very often is not your intended audience but, thanks the advent of the communications age, the things we say and write all too often go beyond our intended audience. Must we show respect to all cultures and societies? Simultaneously? I don’t think that is possible.
Secondly, your statement presumes that all societies and cultures are worthy of respect. Do you respect cultures that practice female circumcision? Do you respect societies that engage in discrimination against homosexuals? Respect is one of those “HOORAY!” words like “justice” or “fairness.” We all want justice… the problem is that we all don’t agree what constitutes justice. Your idea of justice and the ku klux klan’s idea of justice are, I’m willing to bet, two very different things.
The same thing applies to the word respect. What exactly is respect? When someone like Bill Maher says that religion is for idiots (I think it was him who said that, but whoever) he is certainly not showing respect to religious cultures be it Muslim or Christian, etc. Should he censor himself because some Christian Evangelical might get pissed off and start shooting people? You might argue that the Christian fundamentalists don’t have the same history of violence as Muslim fundamentalists (they have had their moments, to be sure, but they are still amateurs compared to the Muslims) but that just leads to the question… does the willingness to use violence confer an increase in the amount of respect that must be shown? The amount of respect that is due? But respect compelled by threat of violence is not really respect… it is fear. The willingness to use violence to shut up other people gets no respect from me.
quote:
There is also a fine line between tolerance and indifference. Indifference always supports the oppressor, never the oppressed. Indifference supports the tormentor, not the tormented.
When you express your free speech through hatred pointing the finger at someone, just remember there are always three fingers pointing back. One points back to those who abuse free speech and two fingers point to those who are indifferent.
That’s a cute saying but it completely misses the point. These metaphorical fingers are not engaging in violence. They are, to carry the metaphor further, merely responding in kind… just as President Obama and the democrats responded in kind (speech with speech) to Romney’s finger pointing. It is the finger that is squeezing a trigger that is the problem. If someone is willing to use violence to shut someone up, they are likely to have no qualms about using violence to shut you up when you say something they don’t like… And remember, just because you don’t consider what you are saying to be hate speech, that doesn’t mean someone else won’t interpret it that way.
The initiators of violence are the one responsible for the violence. Saying that someone else incited to them is simply making excuses for shitty behavior. And, believe me, I can understand how someone’s words can piss you off to the point that you want to punch the mother fucking daylights outta them, but unless they take a swing at you… you are the one to blame for starting the violence.
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