Re Hate Speech

Submitted by Peter Herz (United States), Sep 24, 2012 at 17:15

As far as I'm concerned, the category "hate speech" is a very convenient excuse to clamp down on the First Amendment rights of people who don't share the advocate's views. But, I doubt that this category will ever be deemed unconstitutional by the current crop of Supreme Court justices until one of the Left's clients is hauled up on "hate speech" charges. Maybe the next time a Muslim uses the Qur'anic verse about Jews being turned into apes and pigs in a place with "hate speech" provisions, he ought to be hauled into court.

As for the cartoons and novels, I. as a Christian, believe that First Amendment provisions concerning free exercise, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of peaceable assembly are enough for me--at least as long as my government has the political will to admit that I have the right to call homosexuality sinful and Islam a false religion under its provisions. The flood of science- or state-worshiping propaganda that goes under the name of "atheism" is to me mere idolatry, and I will exercise my right to call it such. And, if my Muslim neighbor wants to accuse me of shirk, I can live with this as long as he keeps it verbal.

Frankly, looking at the timing of the riots, my guess is that a bunch of demagogic hotheads pounced on a convenient excuse to whip up mobs into a frenzy. I don't think the US government has anything to apologize for; nor do people like Terry Jones and Nakhoula Bassiley Nakhoula. The USA has a First Amendment in its Constitution, Obama and Rodham Clinton are sworn to uphold that, and that means doing a better job of explaining it to the world rather than bullying some of the obscure people of our land.

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