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dcnovice -> RE: Ban hate speach. (12/21/2012 7:11:29 AM)
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quote:
Not all words but if we certain ones, the haters will never again be able to use words to hurt people. I dont want to restrict free speech or ban all words, just the indiscriminant ones. Its for the children...
Which ignores the reality of language...just like other well meaning people do.
All guns are deadly, most are capable of killing 20 people in mere moments.
Your sarcasm-laden point seems to be that people can misuse language, just as they can misuse guns or axes or grapefruit spoons. Given that, banning guns strikes you as futile, just as banning hate speech would be. Am I understanding you correctly?
If so, I agree that one needs to be wary of overreactions to horrors such as Sandy Hook and that balancing individual rights with those of the community is truly tricky, particularly in terms of the First and Second Amendments. Neither amendment has been taken absolutely in U.S. history. DS has already offered the classic proscription on shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater.
All that said, two thoughts come to mind:
(a) As the great constitutional scholar Eddie Izzard pointed out, guns alone can't kill people, but they do seem to help anyone on a murderous tear. Even the vilest hate speech couldn't have erased lives as swiftly and brutally as the Sandy Hook gunman did.
(b) I wish folks on both sides of the gun divide would cease and desist from trying to score political points off the Sandy Hook massacre.
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