Of course free speech takes precedence, but we must recognize what free speech is: it is protection from government reprisal and punishment by law for speech. It is not a guarantee that people will not disagree with you, speak out against you, be offended by what you say, or that all types of speech are appropriate in all situations.
And from what I've observed, most people who complain about others being too sensitive are sensitive about something themselves. They will cry foul when their personal issue is mocked or insulted, though they will freely mock others for being too sensitive about something they don't care about.
If you like telling jokes and one pops into your head, should you stop yourself from telling it just because someone might not like it ? Theres always a small chance that it could bring a smile to someone’s face. For me that makes telling the joke more beneficial than not telling it.
I depends the time and place. Example (an extreme one) When I was teaching, 75% of my students were Black. Cracking Black people jokes and using the n word would be VERY inappropriate, even though I would be exercising my right to free speech. I would be violating the school's 'Terms of Service'
This post was edited by Element 99 at December 30, 2017 3:45 AM MST
I wouldn't laugh if I were you, people have been sent packing for less than a LOL. You have to censor your free speech or you'll bleep, and bleep and then you get bleep and bleep or at least that's the way it bleep seems. Anyway, it's all bleep in the long run cause what you think is free speech is really bleep and bleep. Have I sanitized that enough?
Hey, that's catchy. Sorta reminds me of Doris Day. That's neither a personal attack on GK or Doris Day. I have to run that disclaimer since I broke the letter B on my keyboard bleeping stuff out.
I guess I don't follow the constitution much from here in Canada.
I think at my core I don't believe people should have the right to hurt or shoot each other regardless of what some old piece of paper says. Follow your hearts is what I say.
If you're being nice and telling the truth then you deserve free speech and there's always a way to tell the truth without hurting people if you try.
If you're not nice and you're full of Trump then you should get demerit points on your "Free speach license." Eventually a hurtful liar would lose their right to free speech. LoL!
That's how I would run my imaginary country.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at December 29, 2017 12:59 PM MST
If the truth that you want to speak is offensive and hurtful then it's not worth saying and that's the real truth isn't it?
Freedom of speach shouldn't mean freedom to be an ass in my opinion.
You'd have to give me specific example of "Offensive truth" and maybe I could tell you how I would handle it in my imaginary country. Thanks.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at December 29, 2017 1:25 PM MST
People find all different types of truth offensive. If you say a fat person is fat, that is seen as offensive. It could be worth saying too. If a person isn’t told the truth then they might not be aware of the damage that not knowing the truth is doing.
Have you ever met a fat person who didn't know they were fat and needed you to tell them? LoL! If you're talking about children and trying to get them on a healthy diet then I understand, but you can still tell them without hurting them. I would say "I think you and I need to start making better choices at the grocery store because the way that we are eating could cause us to have issues mainting a healthy weight." I would just start buying less junk food for a while and put more effort into preparing healthier meals until my child gets back to a healthy weight. It's my responsibility as a parent. I could also explain to my child how hard it is to lose weight if you let it get out of control. I can teach him all these things without calling him "Fat" if I try.
Any adults who are overweight or underweight probably don't need my opinion unless they bring it up.
Yes. I used to have a girlfriend and she would ask me if she looked fat every now and then. I wouldn’t even look properly, I would just give her reassurance that she looked fine. This continued for 10 years until we had to hire a crane to get her out of bed.
I should have offended her. By not being offensive I encouraged her to eat more. Being offensive saves lives.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at December 30, 2017 1:09 AM MST
Honestly it sounds like she may have had bigger issues than just you telling her that she looked fine. I don't think you should blame yourself on that one. If she was big enough that she couldn't get out of bed then I'm sure that she new she had a problem. I doubt that telling her that she's fat would have helped,. Just my opinion. I hope she is doing better now. Thanks.
Benedict Arnold 