As an addendum to that a couple of Wikipedia entries that may give my viewpoint on the whole freedom of speech argument more clarity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_relativism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnocentrism
I go to Saudi Arabia, smuggle in beer and bacon, and start munching and drinking in public I get what's coming to me, because I'm not ethnocentric and don't expect my actions to be judged in terms of my own culture. Loathsome as I find Saudi Arabia's culture if I go to their back yard I'd have to play by their rules. Same bag here, whatever people who think they're liberal may say.
On that note it's astonishing how many people I've read over the past days who consider themselves liberal because they are largely left-wing in their economic viewpoints, think gay marriage is fine, are all for mass immigration, etc, but when it comes to freedom of speech think that the 'right' to be offended should trump it. They really don't grasp that they are being every bit as fascistic as those they would profess to despise.
---------- Post added at 19:58 ---------- Previous post was at 19:57 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ
The fact is people seem to be in favour of responding to the killings in a way that has been proven to provoke a reaction. It seems like people are willing to pay the price of more killings as long as it means we show the nutters they can't stop our 'freedom of speech'.
Which, in anyone's language is ludicrous.
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I prefer courageous.