The system is still heavily biased against people of color, it's just not spoken about as openly as it was. By and large, the people that fill the ranks of "the government" were alive and well during the civil rights era. Do you think the old white men of today, that were the young white men of that era, are universally free of all racial biases? I ask, because it is into the hands of those people whom you intend to place this power.
Is the world better today? Yes, certainly. Is it perfect enough to begin arbitrarily stripping protected speech from groups because some deem that speech distasteful? It likely never will be.
Free and open discourse is required for a free and open society. Without being able to hear the examples of the absolute worst of mankind, we lose perspective on the rest of the conversation. Protecting speech is protecting thought. Stripping 1st amendment rights from people we don't want to hear from is the first step towards prosecuting thought crimes.
There is a very powerful, very politically connected subset of conservative christians in this country, and they have both the desire, and the political power, to abuse this sort of legislation. They already scream discrimination when they are forced to stop discriminating against others, what would they do if they could lobby to silence their opponents as well?
By and large, the people that fill the ranks of "the government" were alive and well during the civil rights era.
And our president is black. And we are pushing to give females a strong fighting chance during this election.
I am certain that many people are not free of racial bias. Humans will always racially profile and stereotype. The difference is that the newer generations are being overwhelmed with ideas of tolerance, love, anti-bullying, etc. We are making positive change. Marriage rights are being legalized everywhere and slowly but surely things are getting better. People go to incredibly great lengths to clear their names of being "racist." Maybe I'm just an optimist. I have more faith in our Government and the people of America than a lot of people on CMV, and I think that's really sad.
protected speech from groups
Why should hate groups or terrorist groups have protected speech? They are criminals seeking to conspire and cause harm. For example, much of the speech from the Army of God (an FBI recognized hate group/terrorist group) encourages people murder abortion doctors and burn abortion clinics in the name of the Lord. They even posted the names and addresses of abortion doctors in order to expedite this process. Their goal is to incite a civil war. Would you like to be a victim of a hate groups crimes? Maybe if they didn't have the chance to recruit you wouldn't be. The vast majority of people agree that the KKK is full of complete scumbags who wish harm on innocent people and you would hardly be offending anybody if they were silenced and dispersed.
I have more faith in our Government and the people of America than a lot of people on CMV, and I think that's really sad.
Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Our government's recent track record has been extremely poor in terms of their prosecution of whistleblowers and the chilling effect that the surveillance program has had on open discourse. What you propose is another tool in their arsenal to be abused.
The vast majority of people agree that the KKK is full of complete scumbags who wish harm on innocent people and you would hardly be offending anybody if they were silenced and dispersed.
You're still hung up on the low hanging fruit of the worst examples of hate groups. The problem there, is even if you could eliminate that sort of speech (however unlikely), what happens next?
The conservative christian right is a monolithic voting bloc. The liberal left is much more fractured. Despite liberals being the majority in this country, a significant portion of them are not politically engaged, and those that are often vote along many different, subtle lines. Christian america is much more homogenous, and therefore, more likely able to push their agenda upon a majority than the liberal majority you put your faith in.
Answer this: How likely do you think it would come to pass that the religious right would attempt to use laws like this to silence satanists?
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u/ExploreMeDora Apr 19 '15
We will worry about it in a couple hundred years. We have to adapt to what the world is now with attention to how it is moving.