What is free speech?

[Newell Steamer]

I'm just saying, to avoid violence you should stop insulting Republicans. I don't condone violence, but I understand if a one or two of them snapped and came after you.

I've called republicans and conservatives intelligent quite a few times - how is that insulting?

 

[Vic]

I'm just saying, to avoid violence you should stop insulting Republicans. I don't condone violence, but I understand if a one or two of them snapped and came after you.

I'm not following your logic. Do you also understand then why some Muslim extremists attacked Charlie Hebdo?

 

[BoberFett]

I'm not following your logic. Do you also understand then why some Muslim extremists attacked Charlie Hebdo?

I'm being facetious.

 

[Knowing]

Notepad++

Freedom of expression is like the air we breathe, we don't feel it, until people take it away from us.
For this reason, Je suis Charlie, not because I endorse everything they published, but because I cherish the right to speak out freely without risk even when it offends others.
And no, you cannot just take someone's life for whatever he/she expressed.
Hence this "Je suis Charlie" edition.

Ignoring that Charlie Hebdo only satirized certain things.


Then there's this in Canada.


There is either free speech or there isn't. The chilling effect is real.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

I've always heard that you have the right to say anything you want except things like yelling "fire!" in a movie theater that isn't on fire. Why? This speech could harm people and be bad for business.

Threats are made almost anywhere at anyone at some point, and does 'free speech' extend to these threats? In France just a couple of days after a huge rally in favor of free speech, over fifty people were arrested for hate speech toward Jews and verbal support for terrorism. European countries have strict anti-hate laws since the holocaust, but what about the anti-Muslim hate speech in Charlie Hebdo?

If an American converts to Islam, moves to the middle east and starts posting threats to the U.S. on Facebook, it's likely a drone will be sent to get him. We call that 'incitement'. Does Charlie Hebdo incite anti Muslim sentiment?

What do we have the right to say? "Muslims are ..." gets a pass while "Jews are..." is condemned. Should we be free to say whatever we want in these areas?

Do you listen to Dan Carlin?

 

[Victorian Gray]

Since Coptic Christians are constantly being murdered by people who claim to be Muslims, I could understand his valid hatred of Muslims. It is a matter of survival. He was persecuted for his religion and Muslims tend to freely commit acts of Genocide against non-Muslims, or any Muslim they don't agree with. My opinion is that he was put in jail as a political prisoner.

Doesn't matter what your opinion is, in the real world, he broke his probation and was arrested for doing so.