That there are fools in the world is surely not news, but I suppose a particular fool can still say something that deserves attention. For example, the other day someone sent me a link to a news article about an independent candidate in this federal election who told a high school audience that homosexuals should be executed. And, wouldn’t you know, this clown claims to be a Christian, and quotes the Bible to support his case. Of course, we need to remember that the Ku Klux Klan are pretty much all “Christians”. As Stokely Carmichael said, “They wear their Klan robes of Saturday night, and their choir robes on Sunday morning”. And, as Jesus said, “You judge a tree by its fruit”.
The really interesting thing in the article, however, was not that this person was so hurtful and foolish, but that the police are treating this as a possible hate crime. I don’t think this is the right approach. If it’s a hate crime to say that men who have sex with other men should be executed, might it also be a hate crime to say that men who say such unkind and stupid things should be jailed? Speech control is tricky, and way too Orwellian for me.
And I actually think it’s good to have politicians come to high schools and share their “thoughts”, even if some of these “thoughts” may be hurtful, or even hateful. We’re trying to educate these kids, and they need to learn that there are some people out there who should never have any power at all. This is why democracy is important; it’s as much about keeping the bad guys out as getting the good guys in.
2 comments:
I don't know, Dan. I know that kids aren't nearly as impressed by years as I was when I was young. Still, if we were going to do this (invite fools to our schools to demonstrate why some people should never have any power) I think I'd want to be sure there was someone on hand to tell them that that was what we were doing.
Good point, but if we invite politicians we're gonna get a few fools. The story doesn't indicate that anyone spoke out against what this candidate said, however, and I'd have hoped the other candidates would have spoken up. My point is that I don't want to see some court or commission deciding that this or that view can't be expressed publicly. It is comforting to note that when this particular candidate ran last time he got 56 votes. In a big riding you could get that many by accident.
Post a Comment