I was thinking love thy neighbour and judge no less thy be judged. We will gloss over that you are not allowed near menstruating women, cannot touch pork and can't eat shellfish as that is all too, immoral.
No, they really shouldn't. If that was the case then people would be allowed to rape/murder/steal/shout racial abuse etc in 'their own time' and still keep their jobs. So what you really mean is ''within reason'' people ought to be allowed to do/say what they want without it affecting their jobs. This whole discussion revolves around the ''within reason" part. What you see as being an acceptable thing to say/do may not be what someone else thinks is acceptable.
It goes without saying that I was referring to legal activities. You aren't going to be arrested for disagreeing with gay marriage.
You should care. This is a blatant attack on free speech. You either believe in free speech for all, even those with views you cannot stand. Or you don't believe in it at all.
Yeah but it's free speech being used in a stupid way so I really don't care. This sort of thing is no different in principle to saying blacks should not be allowed to marry. Would you support that?
Yeah but it's free speech being used in a stupid way so I really don't care. This sort of thing is no different in principle to saying blacks should not be allowed to marry. Would you support that?
I wouldn't support the sentiment, but I'd support the persons right to say it. I believe that in a democracy we should have the freedom to say what we want. If we start censoring people we are approaching a very dangerous area. and so long as what he said in private wasn't going to affect the way he behaved at work I see no reason for him to have been demoted.
I wouldn't support the sentiment, but I'd support the persons right to say it. I believe that in a democracy we should have the freedom to say what we want. If we start censoring people we are approaching a very dangerous area. and so long as what he said in private wasn't going to affect the way he behaved at work I see no reason for him to have been demoted.
see I think these days we pander to stupidity/ignorance far too much. I don't like the current attitude that just because someone believes something then it automatically deserves respect. Stupidity & ignorance are at the root of every problem the world has and I think there's too much of it around to just keep letting people get away with it.
see I think these days we pander to stupidity/ignorance far too much. I don't like the current attitude that just because someone believes something then it automatically deserves respect. Stupidity & ignorance are at the root of every problem the world has and I think there's too much of it around to just keep letting people get away with it.
I never said it deserved respect. I said that it doesn't deserve censoring by the state (which is what happened here). My point had nothing to do with respect for his beliefs. My point was that it was wrong for the state to punish him for those beliefs. For the state to decide what he could and couldn't say.
Also. "Stupidity & ignorance are at the root of every problem the world has". Not true. While it may be the cause of some problems, I'd argue that greed is a much more significant cause of problems in the world. We're at war in the middle east because of the wests need for oil. We're in a recession because bankers got greedy. I could go on.
I never said it deserved respect. I said that it doesn't deserve censoring by the state (which is what happened here). My point had nothing to do with respect for his beliefs. My point was that it was wrong for the state to punish him for those beliefs. For the state to decide what he could and couldn't say.
Also. "Stupidity & ignorance are at the root of every problem the world has". Not true. While it may be the cause of some problems, I'd argue that greed is a much more significant cause of problems in the world. We're at war in the middle east because of the wests need for oil. We're in a recession because bankers got greedy. I could go on.
Even if it is the state censoring it, does that always have to be a bad thing? I mean, look at germany, austria etc. who come down hard on holocaust deniers/nazi sympathisers etc. I can't see a problem with them censoring stupid bull**** like that, and don't see how the state punishing a homophobe for his stupidity is any worse.
Also who's to say greed doesn't come out of ignorance? It's fun to be greedy but maybe certain people would be less greedy if they were more aware of the harm it does? Anyway, even if ignorance isn't at the root of 100% of everything wrong today, it's gotta be at the root of most of it.
Even if it is the state censoring it, does that always have to be a bad thing? I mean, look at germany, austria etc. who come down hard on holocaust deniers/nazi sympathisers etc. I can't see a problem with them censoring stupid bull**** like that, and don't see how the state punishing a homophobe for his stupidity is any worse.
Also who's to say greed doesn't come out of ignorance? It's fun to be greedy but maybe certain people would be less greedy if they were more aware of the harm it does? Anyway, even if ignorance isn't at the root of 100% of everything wrong today, it's gotta be at the root of most of it.
Most people who are greedy know exactly what harm it does... they just don't care (for the most part).
Now not to sound like a broken record, but to quote Noam Chomsky "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all. "
Now I understand that you'd rather people didn't say things like this, and to say that it's okay for what they said to be punished to be censored, because you don't believe with their views is in my opinion wrong. You cannot claim to live in a democracy if any views are actively oppressed by the state, and besides if they start censoring views you hate and nobody opposes it what/who is going to stop them when they slowly start to censor views you agree with.
Most people who are greedy know exactly what harm it does... they just don't care (for the most part).
Now not to sound like a broken record, but to quote Noam Chomsky "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all. "
Now I understand that you'd rather people didn't say things like this, and to say that it's okay for what they said to be punished to be censored, because you don't believe with their views is in my opinion wrong. You cannot claim to live in a democracy if any views are actively oppressed by the state, and besides if they start censoring views you hate and nobody opposes it what/who is going to stop them when they slowly start to censor views you agree with.
You can't care about expressing them too much then if this is your attitude.
if I was to freely express them it would negatively affect my life, I'd probably end up unemployed if the people who employ me knew how I spend my free time.