Our Freedom of Expression Is Killing Us

[JoeyT]

205. Nope, can't get behind this.

If this had been included in the First Amendment from the beginning, we'd have (had) no women's suffrage, no civil rights movement, no abolition of slavery, no pushback against the religious right, and no gay rights movement, no anti-war movement, no environmentalist movement, no pro-choice movement, no teaching of evolution in schools, etc. All of those were considered an affront to something or another when they started.

The gay rights movement in particular would have been shot full of holes for being offensive to religion. Hell, the people that oppose GLBT rights *still* frame it as an attack on religion. They're just failing now because we were allowed to speak out without being railroaded by the government for hate speech. Same goes for women's rights, especially the right to control their own reproductive system.

I've got news for you, the Glen Becks and Fox Newses won't be going away, even if you get your wish. They're backed by the people with the money and the power. It would be the MSNBCs and Rachel Maddows that would get shut down.

Even if I supported the censoring of offensive speech, as a liberal it would be tactically unwise of me to do so.