I’m not all about freedom and liberty. That’s probably tantamount to saying “I eat sauteed babies and kittens for lunch,” but I’ll persevere and try to explain myself.
I’ll blame my country for my outlook: The United States espouses “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” which are set out as inalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence. The Canadian equivalent is “Peace, order, and good government.” Sliiiight difference of values.
In my opinion (important to clarify?), for every right, we have a responsibility. I don’t think a good society is based on people doing whatever they want and (here’s the real spanner in the works) thinking or saying whatever they want.
There’s a quote misattributed to Voltaire that goes, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
I don’t agree with that. I would not defend anyone’s right, for example, to say things that could be (or are intentionally) harmful to others — whether individuals or whole groups of people. Pretty much the authorities agree with me: you can sue people for slander and libel, and there are (in Canada, at least) restrictions on “hate speech.”
This isn’t about glorifying Canada. As much as I like a lot of things about the country, I’m not patriotic, and I think Canada and Canadians have done and continue to do things I’m not proud of and don’t support.
This is about reading an article on the KKK wanting to “demonstrate peaceably.” I’m sorry, but, no. If the whole point of your group is to be racist and denounce blacks, Jews, and other minorities, I don’t support your right to be vocal about your beliefs. In fact, I don’t even think you should think what you do. I would NOT demonstrate violently to try to stop you or force you to change your beliefs, but I would certainly speak out (if I didn’t fear for my life), and hope that eventually you or your descendants would be more tolerant towards your fellow human beings.
Now, you might ask, “But Erin, dudette, you’re hating on the KKK; isn’t that the same as what they’re doing to other minority groups?” And I would answer, “No, because their mandate is to segregate or eliminate whole groups of people based on ethnicity or religion, whereas those minorities aren’t by definition out to hurt people.” (No comments from the Nazi gallery.)
Of course, if whatever religion you follow tells you to kill anyone who’s not a believer (uhm, or anyone, period), that’s a different matter, and I’d oppose that religion. (This obviously doesn’t apply to religions that are misconstrued and used as another excuse for people to kill people.)
Unfortunately, there are squidgy lines between what’s acceptable and what’s not. I hope I’m able to keep an open mind about the whole thing. But that’s where I stand on the matter.
*holds her breath*
Just to clarify, I don’t think that Canadians in general or in specific are any nicer or more tolerant or more law-abiding or whatever than Americans. I think the concept of countries is pretty bunk, and that people are people no matter where you go, but that’s another issue (or two).
