hate speech

Wanker Found Guilty of Hate Crime After Making Video of Dog Giving Nazi Salute

“A man who filmed a pet dog giving Nazi salutes before putting the footage on YouTube has been convicted of committing a hate crime.

Mark Meechan, 30, recorded his girlfriend`s pug, Buddha, responding to statements such as `gas the Jews` and `Sieg Heil` by raising its paw.

But police were alerted and he was arrested for allegedly committing a hate crime.

The original clip had been viewed more than three million times on YouTube.”

BBC

In America there is a fascist mindset, especially in academia, that considers not just Nazi ideology but any conservative viewpoint hate speech that shouldn`t be protected under the First Amendment.

I`m more liberal than conservative, but I believe that even controversial conservative or libertarian trolls like Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter have a constitutionally-protected right to lecture in universities.

I find it abhorrent when televangelists demonize gays, politicians sing the praises of the NRA, and pundits promulgate the lie that Donald Trump is a great president, but all of these views deserve to be heard in a university campus, where diversity of thought should be the default mode of education.

In the UK and Europe we see what happens when unpopular speech is branded as “hate speech” and is treated as a crime.

To post a video on YouTube depicting a dog responding to statements such as “gas the Jews” and “Seig Heil” by raising its paw in a Nazi salute, is ridiculous, abhorrent, disgusting, and incomprehensibly cruel to the victims of Hitler`s Germany, but it shouldn`t be a crime.

A democracy will survive a professional agitator like Milo speaking in a university, and it will survive dozens of racist videos posted on YouTube.

A democracy has really gone to the dogs when a wanker is convicted for posting a silly, but patently racist video.

Read More:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-43478925

Follow Robert Paul Reyes on Twitter: http://twitter.com/robertpaulreyes

Outrage: Danish Man Charged With Blasphemy for Burning Koran

“A Danish man who posed a video of himself setting fire to the Quran on Facebook has been charged with blasphemy in the first such prosecution for 46 years.

The 42-year-old suspect put the clip, entitled `Consider your neighbour: it stinks when it burns` to a group called YES TO FREEDOM – NO TO ISLAM in December 2015.
Jan Reckendorff, from the public prosecutor`s office in Viborg, said: It is the prosecution`s view that circumstances involving the burning of holy books such as the Bible and the Quran can in some cases be a violation of the blasphemy clause, which covers public scorn or mockery of religion.”

Independent

If an individual was charged with blasphemy by a Western government for setting a Bible on fire the backlash would be intense and immediate. The hashtags #burnthefuckingbible and #separationofchurchandstate would be trending on Twitter, and there would be mass protests in every major Western city.

That said, burning the Koran is an incendiary act (pun intended) that only serves to sow discord and violence. Religion shouldn`t be exempt from criticism and ridicule, but burning the Koran doesn`t bring to light the excesses of Islam, it only exposes the stupidity of the person burning the holy book.

The Koran is treated with reverence by Muslims and any act of desecration of the holy book is perceived as a grave insult worthy of the death penalty. In a democratic country non-Muslims shouldn`t be bound by the prohibitions of Islam. I would never burn a copy of the Koran as a protest against the Neanderthal mindset of Islam, but if I performed such a foolish act it would be constitutionally-protected free speech.

I have written dozens of articles criticizing the abhorrent treatment of women and religious minorities in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran, the written word is the best way to fight intolerance and religious fanaticism.

By the way, I have also written dozes of articles criticizing the homophobia and sexism of evangelicals, although I`m not drawing a moral equivalency between the two major religions. When Islam is criticized or mocked too many Muslims react violently, whereas when Catholics or evangelicals are attacked, they write a letter to the editor or post a rebuttal on their blogs.

In a secular democracy whenever we hear hate speech citizens must condemn it in no uncertain terms, but it`s anathema for the government to punish free speech. Denmark is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, not a theocracy, for God`s sake.

Read More:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/denmark-man-burned-quran-koran-video-blasphemy-facebook-islam-prosecuted-charged-46-years-a7594796.html

Follow Robert Paul Reyes on Twitter: http://twitter.com/robertpaulreyes