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"Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted." - Ralph Waldo Emerson edit: although tangentially rele

by lingben 11y ago

"Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted." - Ralph Waldo Emerson edit: although tangentially relevant, this case in Canada is hair raising: http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/christie-blatchford-ruling-in-twitter-harassment-trial-could-have-enormous-fallout-for-free-speech http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/christie-blatchfor...

seivan 11y ago
I love that quote, especially since some claim vulgarity is harassment, abuse and bigotry. You're just going to alienate people with that kind of thinking. How do you define hate, abuse and trolls? In certain countries atheists are considered terrorists. Those who blog about atheism are haters and a bigot. It's justified to hack them to death, imprison them or whip them. In other countries female drivers are abusing the sensibilities of men. Who is to say which ones are doing the censorship right, lol.
keedot 11y ago
Christie Blatchford's skew is quite heavy in this reporting. I've seen the other side of the argument with some of the behaviours and tweets in question, and it's not so clear cut. I would definitely feel harassed by this individual, and in Canada, we do not claim to have the free speech as defined in America. Hate speech is not tolerated here, and most Canadians are in agreement with this. You can have a difference of opinion, but if you attack someone with words, there are legal consequences.
- danielweber 11y ago
  > if you attack someone with words, there are legal consequences. What a horrible country. I hate it deeply.
  - keedot 11y ago
    You're fully within your rights to do so. It's a pretty great place to live, to be honest.
- lingben 11y ago
  'hate speech' has a very high bar and from the court details there is zero evidence that the defendant engaged in anything remotely approaching harrassment, never mind hate speech. by their own admission and by the evidence, the plaintiffs however did engage in a pattern of behavior and organized others into the same pattern which resulted in a person not only being harassed but also losing their job. it is not enough to say, 'I feel harrassed' or 'I feel hurt' - that does not meet the legal test. You have no right not to be offended. by the token of 'feelings', I could say that your response is 'hate speech' towards me and that I 'felt' harrassed and I 'felt' that my personal safety was in jeopardy. If I were to claim that, I should rightfully be pointed in the direction of a mental health professional, not a court of law.
  - keedot 11y ago
    Right, which is why we have courts to determine the validity of the claims.
    - lingben 11y ago
      Sure, but some things are self evident and it makes no sense to waste public funds on them. If you hurt my feelings, that's neither a criminal nor civil offense. "Sticks and stones..." silly me, I thought we all learned this in elementary school
      - keedot 11y ago
        And yet teenagers still commit suicide because of online harassment. So words do hurt, and can even kill.
        lingben 11y ago
        I didn't say they don't. I said that 'hurt feelings' are not grounds for a criminal nor civil legal case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHMoDt3nSHs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHMoDt3nSHs
        oldmanjay 11y ago
- EvenThisAcronym 11y ago
  >...and in Canada, we do not claim to have free speech and defined in America. Hate speech is not tolerated here... One of the worst aspects of our country IMO. I wish we had millions of people willing to defend the basic right to say what you want.
- Pent 11y ago
  >Hate speech is not tolerated here, and most Canadians are in agreement with this. Please don't speak for the majority of Canadians. I am not in agreement with this and I speculate that many people living in Canada would object to it as well.

by lingben 11y ago

seivan 11y ago

I love that quote, especially since some claim vulgarity is harassment, abuse and bigotry. You're just going to alienate people with that kind of thinking. How do you define hate, abuse and trolls? In certain countries atheists are considered terrorists. Those who blog about atheism are haters and a bigot. It's justified to hack them to death, imprison them or whip them. In other countries female drivers are abusing the sensibilities of men. Who is to say which ones are doing the censorship right, lol.

keedot 11y ago

Christie Blatchford's skew is quite heavy in this reporting. I've seen the other side of the argument with some of the behaviours and tweets in question, and it's not so clear cut. I would definitely feel harassed by this individual, and in Canada, we do not claim to have the free speech as defined in America. Hate speech is not tolerated here, and most Canadians are in agreement with this. You can have a difference of opinion, but if you attack someone with words, there are legal consequences.

danielweber 11y ago
> if you attack someone with words, there are legal consequences. What a horrible country. I hate it deeply.
- keedot 11y ago
  You're fully within your rights to do so. It's a pretty great place to live, to be honest.
lingben 11y ago
'hate speech' has a very high bar and from the court details there is zero evidence that the defendant engaged in anything remotely approaching harrassment, never mind hate speech. by their own admission and by the evidence, the plaintiffs however did engage in a pattern of behavior and organized others into the same pattern which resulted in a person not only being harassed but also losing their job. it is not enough to say, 'I feel harrassed' or 'I feel hurt' - that does not meet the legal test. You have no right not to be offended. by the token of 'feelings', I could say that your response is 'hate speech' towards me and that I 'felt' harrassed and I 'felt' that my personal safety was in jeopardy. If I were to claim that, I should rightfully be pointed in the direction of a mental health professional, not a court of law.
- keedot 11y ago
  Right, which is why we have courts to determine the validity of the claims.
  - lingben 11y ago
    Sure, but some things are self evident and it makes no sense to waste public funds on them. If you hurt my feelings, that's neither a criminal nor civil offense. "Sticks and stones..." silly me, I thought we all learned this in elementary school
    - keedot 11y ago
      And yet teenagers still commit suicide because of online harassment. So words do hurt, and can even kill.
      - lingben 11y ago
        I didn't say they don't. I said that 'hurt feelings' are not grounds for a criminal nor civil legal case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHMoDt3nSHs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHMoDt3nSHs
      - oldmanjay 11y ago
EvenThisAcronym 11y ago
>...and in Canada, we do not claim to have free speech and defined in America. Hate speech is not tolerated here... One of the worst aspects of our country IMO. I wish we had millions of people willing to defend the basic right to say what you want.
Pent 11y ago
>Hate speech is not tolerated here, and most Canadians are in agreement with this. Please don't speak for the majority of Canadians. I am not in agreement with this and I speculate that many people living in Canada would object to it as well.