Quote:In the UK we have laws that stop anyone "inciting hate" etc so it's not free speech.
I hate that as a concept for law. You cant legislate people's emotions, you can react to there words and actions, yes, but you cannot force people to only say nice things about you.
We are in the states starting to get infected with that blasphemy "don't offend me" mindset.
Look, it is a bad idea to have government trying to force anyone to like you or me or ANYONE. Common law already says you cannot call for violence or act out in violence. But the mere act of offending someone should NEVER be illegal. The problem with calling any law a "hate" law, is that of "who gets to decide".
The powers that be may not always agree with you, and since power shifts over long periods of time I think it is a bad idea to have government play thought police. I do understand the intent of "can't we all just get along", and we should as a diverse pluralistic west, but "hate laws" are not t the way to do it.
If anyone thinks laws censoring blasphemy of others is good, Iran is political correctness on steroids. Women and non-Shiites have no opportunity to speak out about their government.
It is one thing to have laws preventing violence, but there is a way to do it, and a way not to do it. The way you do it is to apply the law equally with the concept of "Dont physically harm others and don't call for the physical harm of others".
That where it has to be left. As an atheist living in a theist society saying all the things I know offend them here, I would be jack shit stupid to hand the loaded gun of censorship over to the government that is supposed to protect dissent an minorities. There would be plenty of people, if given the power, who would shut this website down and some even would have us arrested for merely being open atheists.
I think over there and even here, when laws like this are written, I think no matter what point in history you are talking about, you are playing with fire.
