Whether you blame Islam for terrorism, deny the Holocaust, or say homosexuality is unnatural, you will always be attacked on this message board for championing an unpopular view. Words like 'bigot' have been used so many times they've lost their meaning and can now be applied to anyone whose way of thinking you don't like! People forget freedom of speech means respect for EVERYONE'S right to speak, not just atheists or gay rights activists. If someone seriously believes blacks are genetically inferior to whites or the Holocaust has no authenticity, why shouldn't they have a chance to explain themselves? People can debunk them by using the same right. So why do people here gang up on others and report even civil answers and questions? Every one of my questions about homosexuality has been reported. Are gays trying to criminalize my right to say it's unacceptable? Just because people have to respect each other doesn't mean we all have to think alike.
2007-03-05 23:41:57 · 6 answers · asked by ? 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Someone here once said 'Homosexuality is totally acceptable and natural, and anyone who doesn't think so is a freak!" Animal rights activists breaking into laboratories and kidnapping chimps, atheists humiliating others they think are superstitious, famous gays screaming to ban religion - I think these are your real extremists undercover. I champion everyone's right to free expression and respect all people as long as they respect me whether I agree with them or not.
2007-03-05 23:45:57 · update #1
Sorry, the animal rights terrorists are irrelevant. But that's still a situation to which this argument can be applied. :P
2007-03-05 23:48:15 · update #2
I don't agree with all the views I gave. I'm just giving examples.
2007-03-05 23:51:16 · update #3
"Political correctness" is a term that is so broad as to be almost meaningless. In its Orwellian sense it means the deliberate political manipulation of language to control thought. Often, though, people who object to "political correctness" are simply objecting to being called on their bad manners and abusiveness. You need to understand the difference.
To paraphrase Voltaire, I'd be quite happy to defend your right to make genuinely held arguments against gay rights activists and atheists, and to question the historical veracity of the nazi holocaust.
However, if your arguments lack logic, rationality or evidence then it is likely they will be seen as having a primarily abusive rather than bona fide intellectual motivation. If you claim, for example, that gays are unacceptable you need to provide some kind of rational argument why you think this is so, otherwise you are simply being abusive. Your own personal sexual tastes (while they may be very important to you) do not constitute a rational argument. If you claim the holocaust didn't happen then you need to provide some kind of credible sources, otherwise you are just being offensive. An unreferenced anti-Jewish website is not a credible source.
By the way, I agree with you that the report button is overused.
2007-03-06 00:08:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I do not agree with all of your viewpoints but I do agree with your right to free speech. The problem comes from trying to maintain some sense of order in a very ideologically mixed forum. I am sure anyone here could find a more homogeneous forum to express their views among philosophical peers. I don't think you have lost your right to free speech but I do think intolerance comes from all ideologies and is not unique to any single belief system.
2007-03-06 07:49:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
HEAR HEAR!
all those points are valid, except for denying the Holocaust.
that was truly an act of evil, one so shocking that it hasn't been beaten yet.
no matter what anyone says, that will always be true, and to say that it was okay is to paint a big sign on yourself that you are stupid.
2007-03-06 07:50:09 · answer #3 · answered by Trid 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is nothing wrong with multiculturalism. Political correctness is wrong, however, as it is used to stifle the truth.
2007-03-06 07:47:19 · answer #4 · answered by great gig in the sky 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you're not respecting them when you say it to them. We can't stop you, but we the equal right to say we don't agree, and maybe you're being reported because the vast majority do disagree with you.
2007-03-06 07:46:24 · answer #5 · answered by jleslie4585 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Please site some of these answers.
While it is your right to express yourself in the USA, Yahoo! has a bit of a different approach.
2007-03-06 07:46:26 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋