eAnt

"I find that those who insist the loudest about freedom of speech are usually the ones who respect it the least and abuse it most while being the most afraid of it."

I am in complete agreement with you. What I find amazing is that bullies complain when finally bought to task, they then claim they are the victims - talk about projection. Much.

Horus,
You have have hit the nail on the head.
Laws which enable people to shut down any form of free speech that they consider offensive eventually lead to totalitarianism as the well-meaning laws are manipulated by those with a less than altruistic agenda.
Case in point is the use of Dutch "anti-hatred" laws by the political opponents of parliamentarian Geert Wilders to criminalise him and remove him from the scene as the popularity of his party amongst the Netherlands population mushrooms.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/025558.php#respond
These laws become anti-democratic weapons in the hands of the corrupt.
I'm not so sure about the slow erosion in Iran however. It seems pretty fast to me as the Iranian parliament moves to bring back the death penalty for apostasy.
http://www.christianpost.com/Intl/Persecution/2008/09/iran-parliament-approves-death-penalty-for-apostasy-bill-11/index.html

eAnt (and apologist Fractelle),
You said that you find "those who insist the loudest about freedom of speech are usually the ones who respect it the least".
Can you please point to any research that substantiates this statement.
You said "those who insist the loudest about freedom of speech are usually the ones who....abuse it most".
Can you please give us an example which supports your argument.
You said "those who insist the loudest about freedom of speech are usually the ones who....(are) most afraid of it".
Can you please justify this statement.
Or were you just gibbering?
This of course is your perfect right while we continue to enjoy freedom of speech.

Fractelle:"What I find amazing is that bullies complain when finally bought to task, they then claim they are the victims"

Do go on, this is fascinating. How about giving us a few examples? I looked up your previous quotation and couldn't find it anywhere. Do you think we could have a link to the post it came from? After you extricate your leg from the attentions of the Pomeranian, of course.

KMB:"Laws which enable people to shut down any form of free speech that they consider offensive eventually lead to totalitarianism as the well-meaning laws are manipulated by those with a less than altruistic agenda."

This is the crux of the matter. It gets worse when a segment of society is specifically given an entitlement to offend, while also having protection from being offended.

Thus, in our modern age we see a "Sex Discrimination Commissioner" who is not able to hear complaints about discrimination against men. The silence from the Commissioner is then taken by some to mean that she approves of such discrimination, when she has said quite clearly she does not, but is limited by legislation.

It is why we can have businesses and govt departments advertising services exclusively for women, ranging from gyms to finacial advice, to exclusively female clubs, swimming pools and the list goes on, yet at the same time historically exclusively male organisations have been forced to allow female membership on the grounds of discrimination.

Fortunately, the internet has given otherwise disempowered men an opportunity to have their case heard. It is interesting and goes directly to the point that many of the same radical feminists who were most vocal in support of their own right to free speech are most active in trying to suppress that of those who disagree.

‘Real bullying power lays in the ability to cry “offence!” and shut down the “offending” source.’ [Horus]

I say ‘Yippee!’

In that case, I want to put my hand up as a supreme example of the radical feminist bullies that Antiseptic is always being victimised by.

And … in my supreme sense of entitlement as a self-proclaimed radical feminist bully, I wish to assert my bullying power to declare Antiseptic an ‘offending’ source and to cry ‘offence’ at everything Antiseptic says about radical feminists – and any other kind of feminists as well.

So … whatever Antiseptic says about radical feminists (and any other kind of feminists as well) from here on in and henceforward and forever and ever is verily to be declared an ‘offence’.

Signed: The Most Supreme Rad Fem Ayatollah of the Ancient Society of Antediluvean Rad Fem Buffalo Bullies.

SJF

ROFL

A-septic isn't a bully, its just that no-one understands him when he labels people with such terms of endearment as "leg-humper".

Avagoodeaster