Republicans

[marcjacob]

what i'm saying is they have a right to their opinions as per the laws of this country. we don't have to like what they say but we should be protecting their right to say it as those are the same laws that give us our right to say the things we want to say.

I kind of agree with that but how far do you take it? What about the racist groups? If i ran for office saying that black people shouldnt be allowed to get married would that be ok? Free speech has its limits imo. To be more extreme, do i have the right to say that hitler had a point with the Jews? Do i have the right to say a certain group of people should be killed? What if people followed that advice? I DONT believe any of that but my thought is do i have the right to go on tv saying it?

Personally i think freedoms come with responcibilty and that includes tolerance and respect to all members of society. How many of us have emailed the hosts of sites like godhatesfags.com asking them to pull the site? To me sites like this are wrong as they cause many suicides of young kids who may be religious but gay also.

I know this is extreme and i know my examples are about violence and harming people, but preaching right wing hate DOES harm people all the time. Hate crimes, young suicides, people self harming, it all stems from intolerance and hate disguised as the "good christian way" (im christian and believe that God loves gay people, and the Bible is mis-quoted and translated poorly - i dont even think the religious right are reading their Bible properly).

[Lee]

Personally i think freedoms come with responcibilty and that includes tolerance and respect to all members of society.

Agreed, however the problem is that more often than not those tolerance levels are continually pushed more and more in the name of free speech.

Regards,

Lee

[marcjacob]

Agreed, however the problem is that more often than not those tolerance levels are continually pushed more and more in the name of free speech.

I could have just said that . Think i was in rant mode hehe

[Huskyhunks]

Simply replacing one angry group of politicians and beliefs with another group of angry politicians and beliefs simply breaks down this government. This government does not work when one belief system, party, or ideology rules with absolute authority. Every group has to compromise something. It's part of life. Why must everyone insist on winning it all.

[basschick]

amen!

and the same can be said of marriage, sports and a few other places where people seem to think winning is the only thing.

Every group has to compromise something. It's part of life. Why must everyone insist on winning it all.

[Xstr8guy]

Simply replacing one angry group of politicians and beliefs with another group of angry politicians and beliefs simply breaks down this government. This government does not work when one belief system, party, or ideology rules with absolute authority. Every group has to compromise something. It's part of life. Why must everyone insist on winning it all.

This Pollyanna bullshit really pisses me off. Lol.

Where was the compromise for the past 6 years? Or even before that when republicans dominated Congress during Clinton's presidency? I didn't see much compromise then either. Checks and balances... pfft!

[basschick]

i'm not seeing that it happens more and more - it's always been there. i read a lot of books from the 1800s and early 1900s when all sorts of prejudices were spoken of by predominantly white authors as fact.

want to see homophobia? one of the raymond chandler detective books shocked me with the frank, clueless and harmful attitude toward gay men. want to see prejudice in action toward children? some of the oz books by ruth plumley thompson (who took over after baum died) have black racial stereotypes that make me sick to my stomach. what about the prejudice of the 1905 book "the clansman"? that was turned into the equally prejudiced movie many consider a masterpiece, birth of a nation, by d.w. griffith.what about passion plays, which were nothing but hatred toward jews? and mel gibson made a new one just recently.

unfortunately hate and blatant disrespect of entire groups of people is nothing new

Agreed, however the problem is that more often than not those tolerance levels are continually pushed more and more in the name of free speech.

Regards,

Lee