(July 9, 2012 at 7:03 am)apophenia Wrote:
I'm a firm believer in the principle that the remedy for bad speech is more speech, not less.
Until it gets to you. In all seriousness, I DO agree with you, but that "more speech" includes hearing things we might find offensive. It is a dangerous game to get into PC where we all walk on eggshells for others.
Can we all get along? Yes and we should. Civility is much better than tribalism. Where I have constantly parted with my well intended left theist and atheist friends is "how" we find that civility.
Taboos are not the way to do that. More speech, like you said, is.
But when we get offended, but you AND I, we must always accept that 7 billion people wont always like each other or only say nice things about each other.
Civility isn't reached by making demands or setting up taboos or only saying nice things about others. Civility is not found in our differences, but in our common condition. We all want food, jobs, shelter and love, AND the right to bitch when we don't like something. The only reasonable tactic that can work in a diverse world is one of "leave it at words, allow the bitching, and agree not to kill each other".
The reaction here to me, not just you, but others as well, isn't a issue of you, but a common human behavior our species has displayed. It is a protection of self in a response to a threat. That is a NORMAL reaction, but my objection is to how humans react in response to being offended. It is a behavior issue, not a personal one.
So if you are going to say "more speech" and I agree with that, is how you combat bigotry, you still have to allow for those offensive things, even if aimed at ANY of us. Otherwise we are no better than any form of political or religious fascism that sets up taboos.
