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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Muslima][quote=Anonymous][quote=Muslima]Free speech is not absolute![/quote]

Says who?  You?[/quote]

Freedom of speech is not absolute. The mere fact that there are slander and libel laws is a testament to this. The press is not free to publish the plans for a nuclear bomb. Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning, Wikileaks ring a bell?  The US government has been allowed to limit speech for many, many reasons, because the Supreme Court has recognised that in some cases the harm speech causes can outweigh its value for freedom of speech purposes.[/quote]

Is there a national security or commercial interest inherent in curbing offensive speech?  Who decides what is offensive?  If we rule by law that no one be allowed to say anything that offends anyone else, then no one will be allowed to say anything.  That is the ABSOLUTE antithesis of freedom.  Is that what you want?  It is not what Americans want.  I loathe Westboro Baptist Church with the heat of a thousand suns, but I will defend their right to say what they want.  The same laws that protect them protect those who mobilize to speak against them and physically block out their hate at the funerals they picket.  It's called a war of ideas for a reason.  You don't fight words with guns, and the solution is not to muzzle the population en masse.  I assume you are enjoying your freedom to speak your mind on this forum.  Why would you deny that to someone else?  Are your beliefs so fragile that they can be harmed by words?  Mine are not.[/quote]

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