So if you liked the looks of the Nazi flag, you should be able to fly it off your front porch without anyone whining about it?
whining is also part of free speech...but if that goes to far and turns into a public campaign to silence that speech/expression, ..well, a different approach is probably neccessary...especailly if you are going to pretend you respect free speech/expression rights.
for a more realistic example, I have literally hundreds and hundreds of biker associates... a few of which have Swastika tattoos. I know these dudes aren't showing he symbol according to it's long held historical meaning, instead choosing the white supremacist meaning.
do i like those tats?.. nope.. sure don't....white supremacy is among the most idiotic things on the planet.
should i follow the around and whine about it?.. launch a public campaign to ban swastika tattoos?.. I dunno, but i choose, according to my beliefs, to mind my own business and not turn in to a giant whiny brat over them.
i've even complimented a couple of these guys on their tats , saying to them that i'm glad they are reviving the historical meaning of "good fortune" instead of adopted the crazy bull**** Hitler and white supremacist brought upon us.
it wasn't true...these cats probably didn't even know the Swastika existed long before Nazis... but i was just doing my part to remove the negative power of that symbol by exerting a positive message on it.
does doing so change their beliefs?.. nope.... but it does accomplish a few other things...I show i'm opposed to white supremacist bull****, I strip their message from them and replace it with a positive message, and I remove the possibility of them getting defensive while doing so.
I could choose to whine and cry and say swastika tattoos should be demonized and call for tattoo artists to stop giving them... but that's not a very effective way to go about things... doing so only adds conflict.
So free speech for you and anyone who disagrees with your speech just needs to STFU?
free speech/expression is for everyone...that's exactly why I think public campaigns, like the one we are seeing, to make certain expressions/speech go away is misguided.
the folks who hate this flag cannot say they respect free speech/expression... not when their end game is to silence that speech/expression.... that's just a fact.
when you actively seek a conflict, you're going to get one... conflicts leads to defensiveness, rash decisions, animosity, and whole host of negatives.
I'm just trying to get your position straight. We all get that you have the right to fly any damn thing you want, so I'm not sure why you keep using the word "ban." Literally no one is talking about a ban of that flag.
well, i don't buy that any of you think anyone has the right to fly the flag... I believe, at best, that's a partial lie.
y'all are talking about the government respecting your free speech rights...but nothing beyond that... respecting free speech, to me, goes beyond simply saying the government shouldn't sanction you.
my position comes from a different perspective.... while some think banishing the expression from their sight makes things all better, i believe such campaigns gives too much power to symbols and the meaning they assign to them.
I prefer to not allow things i dislike live rent free in my head... and i prefer to strip the meaning and power from stuff i don't like.