Reply to METRO Drops all Issue Ads in Response to Pam Geller

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]People's religious beliefs can be criticized freely without it being hate speech.  Just like people's political beliefs can be criticized.  Saying "I think islamic beliefs are generally backward and dumb" is not hate speech.  No one has a moral or constitutional right to have their opinions respected by others.  That is the whole point of having a first amendment.

I'm very disappointed in the people who are blaming Geller for risking other people's lives.  If there is a risk, it is the fault of people who would kill over speech they disagree with.  Stop blaming the victim for inviting crime.

And... rallying is not equivalent to shouting fire in a theater (legally or morally) because it is not false speech that is intended to incite panic.  The worst the rally will do is cause mass offense, but, again, that is exactly what the First Amendment protects.  This is no different in principle than pro-lifers rallying outside an abortion clinic or the Westboro Church rallying at a solider's funeral.  Maybe tacky, but legitimate speech.  [/quote]

No argument here on most of your point.

The issue to me is highly nuanced and I do not even know if I can articulate it correctly.  Sure, it is not Geller's "fault" if a zealot launces a terrorist attack on Metro in response to the ads.  Except that we have a reasonable belief to assume that there will be an incident based on recent history on this very issue.  Unless she plans to take Metro everyday, I doubt she will be a victim if something happens.  And that is part of the issue for me.   These ads are meant to provoke a response. If they do and the brunt of that response is borne by others, she is not blameless.   I am a daily Metro patron and I would not want to see those ads - not because I disagree with the sentiment, but because of the provacative intent and likely response.  She is free to express her beliefs.  But I am also free to express that I do not want to see her beleifs as aprt of my daily commute and I do not want to put in a position to cash a check that she wrote.

Also, WMATA has many interests to balance so I would expect them to err this way. [/quote]

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