Do some conservatives on here have trouble grasping the idea of freedom of speech vs. criticism?

Question

just because "liberals" complain about something someone says... it doesn't mean that we think they shouldn't be able to say it...

it's really not that complicated, but many of you seem to have a lot of trouble grasping this idea...

unlike many of you guys... we don't think that everything we don't like should be outlawed... we simply think it's wrong, but you should still be able to say it...

why do they seem to have trouble with this?

politcal correct speech is merely social... I don't think that there are any laws prohibiting someone from not speaking in a politically correct way...

and I've never heard anyone to tell anyone else that they can't pray, as long as they weren't interupting others to do it...

from what I'm hearing on here... many of you are not talking about "freedom of speech" at all... but you just don't want anyone to "talk bad" about what you're saying...

If someone criticizes you, you think we're infringing on your "freedom of speech"... hahaha... you only have the right to say it... that's as far as the freedom goes... and we have the freedom to criticize it...

Answer 1

Why? That is easy. The nature of the conservative mind set is to resist any and all change. Any sort of criticism implies that the world view that they have held all their life is wrong and so they attack. This is why fundementalist Christianity is so appealing to conservatives. They use 4000 - 2000 year old writings to guide their entire life.

Answer 2

I am a conservative, and I must answer like this: Freedom of Speech and criticism are basically one in the same....it's a matter of whether or not it is criticism or just outright bull...for instance, if one person on one side of the aisle or the other criticizes a piece of legislation or executive order with valid facts, such as the Iraq war with "faulty intelligence" that is one thing. Which, I might add, almost everyone has admitted there was faulty intelligence....however, some people (and this goes on both sides of the aisle) say that Bush lied or so and so LIED...that is different, because no one knows what his intentions are. But when well more than 2/3 of the Senate voted FOR the war, and now nearly half oppose it and say he lied, that is not criticism, that is being a hypocrite and not admitting your own fault....The only people that have a right to complain now are people who voted against the war in the first place, which would be freedom of speech, unless they throw an accusation that anyone (whether Bush, Blair, etc.) LIED....because no one can accurately prove that....if the intelligence said one thing, and everyone in the world believed it, not just us....then what are you to do, if someone reported false info, that's not anyone's fault except the person who reported it....however, this is getting complicated, BUT....in a nut shell: it's a fine line...unfortunately, 90% of politicians cross it every day and it really gets on my nerves...libs and cons alike....

Answer 3

Freedom of speech includes the freedom to criticize. It means the Dixie Chicks have the freedom to criticize the president AND it means the conservatives have a right to criticize how & where the chose to give that critisism. I can't tell you how many times I heard liberals saying the Dixie Chicks' freedom of speech was being violated. So it sounds like the liberals are the ones who are confused.

Answer 4

Whatever a Conservative says, is immoral, unethical and wrong.
Whatever a liberal says is freedom of speech.

Liberals always twist words around to condemn everyone other than themselves. It would be nice if liberals recognized non-liberals freedom of speech as well.

****Liberal Dictionary****

Abortion: mass of tissue
War: Imperialism
2nd Ammendment: Not recognized
Illegal Immigration: same as regular immigration
Crime: failure of gov't to meet the needs of the citizen.
Welfare: a right.
Work: a right
Homosexuality: a right
Flag Waving: fascism
Patriotism: fascism
U.S. Flag: symbol of oppression and hate.
White people: living symbol of oppression and hate

Answer 5

That is hardly the truth. Liberals are the creators of politically correct speech. If someone refers to anyone as anything but some hyphenated title, the left starts foaming at the mouth crying racist, bigot and every other vile name they can dream up.

The left does not support free speech, at all. Not unless that speech conforms to their ideals.

Answer 6

Mostly because you don't apply that same right of speech to conservatives. They want to say a prayer, the 'free speech liberals' come in and say no, they want to say 'absence is the only way to not catch a STD, the 'free speech liberals' say no, they want to say marriage is between a man and a woman, the 'free speech liberals' come in and say no.

so the conservatives just give as good as they get

Answer 7

Arch conservatives has to control, so naturally anyone challenging their authority by complaining, asking questions or questioning their authority are going to be painted with a negative brush! Read Lakoff's book on this.
Conservatives practice the father is always right mode...while the rest of us liberals believe in a more nuturing form of government that believes in the rights of the individual, individual differences and equality.

Answer 8

I don't see any of them stepping up to the plate to pay my bills, so they have no authority over me. I am a law abiding citizen, and I pay my taxes.,..This is part of my rights from the Constitution and Bill of Rights, as an American citizen. This is the part the Conservatives can't seem to grasp in life. They are not the only ones in this world!

Answer 9

It's hard to argue with your point about criticism being the cornerstone of freedom of speech. We didn't need the First Amendment to insure our right to say things we all agree with. We needed it so we could have vigorous debate and even vocal disagreement with our government.

Obviously, if your right to disagree with me is protected, so is my right to disagree with you.

No one (left, right or middle) can say: "this guy annoys me, so someone needs to make him shut up". But we can ridicule one another's opinions and even call people names.

Childish speech is also protected. Both sides of the political spectrum here on YA have demonstrated mastery of childish speech.

If it offends us too much, we need not participate. But I usually find enough worth reading here that I can wade thru the muck. (And I will admit to tossing a little mud around every now and then).

But only to the most deserving, who distinguish themselves here by their idiocy!

Answer 10

Yes, just going by my personal experience I believe Cons to be concrete thinkers who can only process concepts in "black and white" versus liberals like myself who tend to be abstract and view concepts from many different angles. I remember posing a question about this a couple of months ago and the Cons got their thongs all in a bunch, LOL.