Of course. I would never deny any crockpot a chance to speak his piece. However, I wouldn't hire a lunatic to teach a college course. Big difference. Paul -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Bob W" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > I agree with Aaron on this. > > I'd go a bit further. If you believe in free speech you must defend > the right of people who are saying things you really don't want to > hear, and which may well be crackpot, offensive or plain stupid. For > one thing, it gets these people out into the open so you know who they > are, and who/what you might have to defend yourself against. > Subjecting our own opinions and ideas to attack means we strengthen > those that are of value, and discard those that aren't. This has been > one of the most powerful weapons in the triumph of democracy - it > grows stronger because it welcomes scrutiny and critical examination. > Compare this to totalitarian and theocratic regimes. > > Another aspect of free speech, which people often don't consider, is > our right to hear things and judge them for ourselves, and not to have > some nanny state or self-proclaimed authority decide what is and is > not good for our ears. We are adults, so we have the right to listen > to this sort of guff if we want to, and the right to believe it, or to > ignore it, or to mock it as we see fit. > > Defending free speech for others is how we defend free thinking for > ourselves. > > -- > Cheers, > Bob > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > > Behalf Of Aaron Reynolds > > > > That's part of why it's so important to let people talk about this > > stuff -- you get specifics that you can examine and attempt > > to counter. > > > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
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