American confederate flag

[SlimTrae]

I would normally agree with you as a matter of principle, but what if you were Jewish and your neighbour insisted on flying a Nazi swastika flag on a huge pole that you could see from your house?

Or if you were black, ditto with a National Front or KKK flag or something?

These things are not easy to make blanket statements about ......

The what if factor....

then would have no probable end.


What if a Japanese had a sign in their front window stating :Chinese are the sick men of Asia, right next door to one?

What if someone decided to place a bumper sticker on their car like: Jewish ashtray on board

Or a bumper sticker that asked: What do you call a nigger in a tree with a briefcase? Branch manager
With a picture of a monkey hanging on to a branch with one hand & a briefcase with the other.

President Bush & Obama both have had effigy of them burned...right here in America- by voters at that. Isn't that hateful? I can't stand what Bush Jr did to America- but to burn a likeness of him?
Not in my heart.

Where do we draw the line? flags, mementos, symbols can offend anyone for any reason be it racial, social, ethnic, gender, age.

Flags to the best of my ability have never caused a war, never caused death. The confederate flag or a Nazi swastika has no power. -Take them away and hateful people will still exist.

[TitoFan]

I would normally agree with you as a matter of principle, but what if you were Jewish and your neighbour insisted on flying a Nazi swastika flag on a huge pole that you could see from your house?

Or if you were black, ditto with a National Front or KKK flag or something?

These things are not easy to make blanket statements about ......

The what if factor....

then would have no probable end.


What if a Japanese had a sign in their front window stating :Chinese are the sick men of Asia, right next door to one?

What if someone decided to place a bumper sticker on their car like: Jewish ashtray on board

Or a bumper sticker that asked: What do you call a nigger in a tree with a briefcase? Branch manager
With a picture of a monkey hanging on to a branch with one hand & a briefcase with the other.

President Bush & Obama both have had effigy of them burned...right here in America- by voters at that. Isn't that hateful? I can't stand what Bush Jr did to America- but to burn a likeness of him?
Not in my heart.

Where do we draw the line? flags, mementos, symbols can offend anyone for any reason be it racial, social, ethnic, gender, age.

Flags to the best of my ability have never caused a war, never caused death. The confederate flag or a Nazi swastika has no power. -Take them away and hateful people will still exist.

Why stoke the fires of hate needlessly, though? All in the name of freedom of speech? That's what's wrong with society. We take these damn proclamations literally and take the thinking away from the lawmakers. What? So-and-so is flying an old Nazi swastika flag in his backyard in a Jewish neighborhood, in an obvious attempt to provoke people and continue promoting hate? Well... let's just drop the ol' Constitutional 1st Amendment bag over it and everything will be fine. Next case.

Personally... I respect what those great men wrote back in the day... like the 1st and 2nd Amendments to the Constitution. In both cases, they were sorely needed. But society today uses those as a crutch to avoid tackling problems head on. Let's just quote these 200-year old documents and go on about our day... thank you very much.

Everybody and their brother can distinguish between someone expressing him/herself freely about politics, the government, religion, the economy, and other controversial issues........ and someone who is spewing hate for the sake of hate. The KKK, Neo-Nazis, skinheads, black militant groups.... etc, etc. Why continue to pretend that what they do is ok?? Is it a little more trouble to split hairs and decide who has freedom of expression and who doesn't? Damn right it is. That's why God gave people brains. A chimpanzee could quote and parrot old documents that may or may not be applicable to these times.

[SlimTrae]

I would normally agree with you as a matter of principle, but what if you were Jewish and your neighbour insisted on flying a Nazi swastika flag on a huge pole that you could see from your house?

Or if you were black, ditto with a National Front or KKK flag or something?

These things are not easy to make blanket statements about ......

The what if factor....

then would have no probable end.


What if a Japanese had a sign in their front window stating :Chinese are the sick men of Asia, right next door to one?

What if someone decided to place a bumper sticker on their car like: Jewish ashtray on board

Or a bumper sticker that asked: What do you call a nigger in a tree with a briefcase? Branch manager
With a picture of a monkey hanging on to a branch with one hand & a briefcase with the other.

President Bush & Obama both have had effigy of them burned...right here in America- by voters at that. Isn't that hateful? I can't stand what Bush Jr did to America- but to burn a likeness of him?
Not in my heart.

Where do we draw the line? flags, mementos, symbols can offend anyone for any reason be it racial, social, ethnic, gender, age.

Flags to the best of my ability have never caused a war, never caused death. The confederate flag or a Nazi swastika has no power. -Take them away and hateful people will still exist.

Why stoke the fires of hate needlessly, though? All in the name of freedom of speech? That's what's wrong with society. We take these damn proclamations literally and take the thinking away from the lawmakers. What? So-and-so is flying an old Nazi swastika flag in his backyard in a Jewish neighborhood, in an obvious attempt to provoke people and continue promoting hate? Well... let's just drop the ol' Constitutional 1st Amendment bag over it and everything will be fine. Next case.

Personally... I respect what those great men wrote back in the day... like the 1st and 2nd Amendments to the Constitution. In both cases, they were sorely needed. But society today uses those as a crutch to avoid tackling problems head on. Let's just quote these 200-year old documents and go on about our day... thank you very much.

Everybody and their brother can distinguish between someone expressing him/herself freely about politics, the government, religion, the economy, and other controversial issues........ and someone who is spewing hate for the sake of hate. The KKK, Neo-Nazis, skinheads, black militant groups.... etc, etc. Why continue to pretend that what they do is ok?? Is it a little more trouble to split hairs and decide who has freedom of expression and who doesn't? Damn right it is. That's why God gave people brains. A chimpanzee could quote and parrot old documents that may or may not be applicable to these times.

Well said. I'm not defending ones right to act a fool or stoke the flames. Just trying to separate the symbols of hatred from the people who will hate regardless.

Again, well said: I concur.