bmilder...

You closed the KKK thread, and feel free to close this one. My apologies in advance if this is an annoyance or otherwise a problem for you.

"If anyone reacts positively to the site, I don't even want to hear about it"

Perhaps.

People have freedom of thought. I will not dare to claim the right to decide what is proper or improper for others to think. That is between God and them - and judge them He will.

People have freedom of association. If they wish to cut up perfectly good sheets and get together, they are granted this right by law.

People have freedom of speech. Does this mean they can use the dreaded N-word? I believe so. Does this mean they have the right to hurl derogatory racial epithets at those who they dislike, or to propose theories of racial inferiority or superiority?

I believe so.

If someone chooses to insult me about my size, my weight, my haircut, their novel take on my sexual orientation (which is fruitless speculation), my clothing, or my prowess with computer systems, then I will not claim the right stop them, except through coercion (putting my size to use) or debate. I have had many incidents to the effect of those listed above, and so this is not just idle speculation.

Where it becomes unlawful is when thought and word becomes action.

To use a real example, when those who would mock me go beyond silly insults and names, and steal the item of clothing (in this case, a hat) which they were mocking.

The Ku Klux Klan has a legal right to exist.

They may not, however, engage in assault, arson, extortion, murder, rape, or civil disobedience, which seems to be more or less their agenda.


Now, as far as the organization itself goes...

They claim an affiliation with a religion which they openly defy.
They claim brotherhood with a Man while closing their ranks to His race.
They have a hodgepodge of political affiliations.
And they have an ugly and more-or-less useless sectarian webpage.

Good night.

I remember a TV movie called "Skokie", starring the late Danny Kaye.

I think it was based on a true story about the little town of Skokie, where the town people wanted to prevent Neo-Nutsy march through their town.
The Neo-Nuts went to court to contest that.

The twist is that it was a jewish lawyer who defended their rights in court; of course, he was way afar from their beliefs, but for the lawyer it was the right to freedom of expression that was more important, and removing that right from the Neo-Nuts was to him a too important precedent.

On the other hand, Danny Kaye played the father of that young lawyer, and was opposed to his son's actions. And so was the community.

A very good TV movie of the 80's, which didn't try to say who was right or who was wrong, and left the viewers to decide and debate among themselves.

That's intelligent. No one starts throwing bricks.

Hmm, JL what are we getting at exactly here?

Do you disagree with my closing the thread?

Obviously people have the right to think what they want. However, I would hope that the topic would be pretty much one-sided, with everyone expressing disgust. Since it wouldn't cause discussion, I thought that it still served its purpose even though closed. To tell you the truth I don't really want to know if someone is harboring KKK rhetoric inside. Free speech is free up to an extent - I can edit and delete and close anyone's posts at Entmoot, and so can the ezboard systemwide admins. But I would prefer not to...

that you can tell that I love to get my two cents in on any issue that I come across.

I was simply a bit perturbed, and very bored.

"Do you disagree with my closing the thread?"

Nah, not really... unless you knew I was on vacation and that I would miss the thread altogether and closed it just to spite me... *ROFL*

Heh, ok. And congrats on becoming an Enting, that means you have over 50 posts here now

NT

The thread could easily have evolved in a "Freedom of speech thread" in fact, that was what i was hoping for. I personnaly think that using your freedom of speech to insult someone else cuts the right to peace of that other person.

"Nah, not really... unless you knew I was on vacation and that I would miss the thread altogether and closed it just to spite me..."

Don't look at me. I didn't tell him.

On my show, I had a grizzled old Black Panther on the air who was defending the rights of the KKK to speak and demonstrate!

Perhaps only so he would have the opportunity of spitting on them as they passed, but he defended it nevertheless.

The US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS thread contains (lengthy) posts concerning Freedom, and why Americans chose to limit Government.

Free Speech for Panther or Klansman, and especially for All in between, will not remain free if we start trimming it off the edges.

We will then trim a little more, and trim a little more...

Let the Klan speak!


And use your Freedom to expose their ideas for what they are so that they may be utterly defeated in the Arena of Public Opinion.


(And with that, the little hobbit puffed himself up and looked very fierce and bold!)

In regard to freedom of speech, it is interesting to consider the reactions of certain governments to the recent electoral successes of the far right in Austria. The Freedom Party, led by Joerg Haider, joined the government after standing for election on an extreme right-wing platform. A global wave of condemnation followed, with the result that Haider resigned from office shortly afterwards. Some European politicians even went so far as to suggest that Austria`s membership of the EU should be suspended.

I have little sympathy with the views of far-right extremists, but if the people of Austria wish to vote for a party with such an agenda, then that is a matter for them. There can be no more resounding declaration of `freedom of speech` than a democratically held election, but it seems that ordinary people can only express their democratic rights if their opinions suit our political masters.

Here! Here!

Yay for Entings!

Does the post count thing only include ones here at Entmooty or on all ezboards?

Jorg Haider has no e in it, as far as I know.

Anakin, it's only on Entmoot. Thus you are a Sapling (less than 4 posts).

JL, I believe the correct spelling is "Jörg" with the two dots that you forgot!!!

But seriously, you give everyone grief about spelling... like with juntel and "foetus" even though that's his native language...

Hehe. I will admit that I do tend to nitpick. It's quite amusing, actually.

Seriously, though... I try to restrain myself to when the error is made multiple times, or when an uncorrected error could cause some problems (as in, if someone tried to look up one Joerg Haider)

Ahhh, I'm a sapling... how cute...

It's funny how many publications I've seen spelled it with an E...

Though I must ask - where did it say that it didn't have an E? I've seen it both ways.

Thank you, IronParrot!

The BBC spell it this way, and they have been the source of most of my knowledge on the matter. The UK press also uses `Joerg`.

Who is to say which is correct?

BTW, `foetus` can be written with the `o` or without, both variations are valid. Mind you, that is true only if you consider the OED to be a higher authority than Johnny L.