I think free speech should be illegal because it leads to stupid threads like this one.
P.S. This thread isn’t actually that bad… but I hate to let an opportunity to say something go by.
Who needs Freedom of Speech? My country doesn’t.
I think the right to free speech makes sense because theoretically there’s no way to control what other people say, except shutting them up by force, which wouldn’t be nice no matter what they say.
I tend to defer to US supreme court justice Oliver Wendel Holmes dissenting opinion in Abrams vs. The United States, the one on clear and present danger.
Only when there is an imminent threat of physical danger that can be incited or indicated by speech should that speech be stopped. (Fire! in a crowded theater, threatening to kill someone)
Only when there is malicious intent behind the words should they be punished.
Malicious intent is quite subjective, so that’s pretty hard to control.
And I don’t know, if you plan to kill someone, threatening him first seems fair :retard:
It’s quite subjective - so much so that you’d have to define what “malicious intent” even MEANS as a term before determining whether someone even feels it.
The only time - the ONLY TIME - I would say that someone does not have “free speech” is when their words do incite violence or other right-destroying actions. Do, not could. In other words, you should be allowed to, as the classic example goes, yell “Fire” in a crowded theater…but if there is a riot, you won’t get freedom of speech as a defense.
I disagree that we should not let the person yell fire in the first place. Doing so relies on an inappropriate definition of “right.” A “right” is not something that the government lets you do - it is something that the government is not allowed to stop you from doing.
If you are allowed to say this, but not that, it would mean that the government is allowed to determine exactly what you’re allowed to say - i.e. the first definition. Instead, let people say anything they want - and if it DOES create consequences which impugne upon the rights of others, as a riot incited in a theater might do, then and only then may you lose your “right” to free speech - as it was taken away not by the government, but by your own actions.
I’m fine with it as long as no morons are given the freedom of speech
that could be quite a problem considering, id say about 90 percent of the worlds population is made up of idiots…
Brilliant. :retard:
Well, eliminate religion and superstition as significant factors and you’d have 90 % decent, free-thinking people in no time.
You’d still have Truther morons, though.
You fail to insult me.
I have ceased to be a Truther on New Year’s Eve. Completely rethought the whole thing and came to the conclusion that, like religion and superstition, conspiracy theories use circular logic, faked evidence and unproveable statements to scare or seduce people into believing and supporting them, resulting in the leaders of the movement benefitting from their followers’ support. So I saw no reason anymore to believe in it. And yes, I feel ashamed to ever have been so mislead. As I feel ashamed to have been a Catholic Christian till the age of 11, and then a Protestant till the age of 14, although I could easily have already known better.
As much as I don’t want to be a douche about it but I have to agree with this.
Unfortunately, most evidence is in favor of that position. The only sensible alternative would be for people of all religions to get along and accept other faiths, but that’s not likely to happen.
sticks and stones
You’re aware that you just linked to The Onion, right?
Obvious post is obvious.
Why does god believe that he himself is above us so he is allowed to kill humans, while we aren’t?
Can you spell hypocrite?
I guess that makes us hypocrites, in that we have no qualms about killing flies, but have laws against killing humans?
Think, brother.