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clever Voltaire quote in this field
13 years ago
A month ago or so I was posting this debate journal, and deleted it again because I quickly realized how much I was not ready for a discussion of open mindedness with furries. You are probably all pretty fucking open minded, heck for some of you, open mindedness is an unquestionable god.
Today I revisited another piece of the puzzle, which issss ... freedom of speech. This is of course the freedom to provoke, to discriminate, but to me freedom of expression is also the encouragement to critical thinking. There's a very interesting dilemma going on in most western countries right now, where in order for everyone to play nice in the name of tolerance, censorship is enforced. Yes, anti-discrimination laws reduce your freedom of expression.
Now I don't want you to use your freedom of expression to incite hate, but I want you to be allowed to. You know, I think it's an incredibly stupid thing to do, and I've done it in youthful spite, but I will defend your right to do it.
I'm not saying open mindedness is in opposition to freedom of speech, but are you open minded enough to accept intolerance? And I, I have to accept the fact that if I am to be allowed to say X, then someone else will have to be allowed to say Z, even if I find Z unacceptable.
I find these things very interesting to think about, of course, your freedom of speech is also your freedom to draw (but not your freedom to act). This freedom is an amazing privilege we westerners have, and I'm afraid what will happen if we have to see it go, because we will not get it back before the damage is done and it could be great indeed.
The articles I've been reading:
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblo.....speech-better/
- rather than protect minorities with anti-discrimination laws, continue to protect and encourage freedom of speech because they themselves need that freedom to be themselves and maybe become accepted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini.....14a_story.html
- lists the main arguments against free speech and mentions several cases against free speech, some of which seem bizarre to me in how far someone's rights can be stuffed away if what they said can in any way incite anything in anyone (which everything can).
addendum: I am fully aware that FA is a private site and as such is at full rights to restrict freedom of speech in any way it wishes, and I think that is totally okay. I am not challenging that. I am here by invitation and choice.
Today I revisited another piece of the puzzle, which issss ... freedom of speech. This is of course the freedom to provoke, to discriminate, but to me freedom of expression is also the encouragement to critical thinking. There's a very interesting dilemma going on in most western countries right now, where in order for everyone to play nice in the name of tolerance, censorship is enforced. Yes, anti-discrimination laws reduce your freedom of expression.
Now I don't want you to use your freedom of expression to incite hate, but I want you to be allowed to. You know, I think it's an incredibly stupid thing to do, and I've done it in youthful spite, but I will defend your right to do it.
I'm not saying open mindedness is in opposition to freedom of speech, but are you open minded enough to accept intolerance? And I, I have to accept the fact that if I am to be allowed to say X, then someone else will have to be allowed to say Z, even if I find Z unacceptable.
I find these things very interesting to think about, of course, your freedom of speech is also your freedom to draw (but not your freedom to act). This freedom is an amazing privilege we westerners have, and I'm afraid what will happen if we have to see it go, because we will not get it back before the damage is done and it could be great indeed.
The articles I've been reading:
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblo.....speech-better/
- rather than protect minorities with anti-discrimination laws, continue to protect and encourage freedom of speech because they themselves need that freedom to be themselves and maybe become accepted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini.....14a_story.html
- lists the main arguments against free speech and mentions several cases against free speech, some of which seem bizarre to me in how far someone's rights can be stuffed away if what they said can in any way incite anything in anyone (which everything can).
addendum: I am fully aware that FA is a private site and as such is at full rights to restrict freedom of speech in any way it wishes, and I think that is totally okay. I am not challenging that. I am here by invitation and choice.
I forgot what else I wanted to respond.
I theorize it's probably impossible to be fully tolerant?
I just think it's sucky for me if there's something I'm not allowed to deal with, as an artist? Because I've already experienced it with some subcultures and I think the trend is on the uprise. It's my job as an artist to question things, I feel.
More to the point, I get what you're saying and it's good that you realize this, because this goes over a lot of peoples' heads. One should be able to use every word they can, because the quality of your thoughts are often only as good as the words you know. Therefore, use everything you've got and afford others the same freedom. In the end it's all about how responsible people are and the kind of character they have.
There's so much address, though and I really don't wanna turn it into a rant. In short, I agree with you.