... if it's really a good thing that they punish Holocaust deniers.
You may be thinking I'm a creep right now. But when reading in the news about recent Holocaust denial sentences, it occurred to me that there are pretty serious punishments being handed down for denying something that the government thinks you should believe.
Don't get me wrong; I think it's terrible that people deny the Holocaust and I think these people are dangerous. But the thought of otherwise-democratic governments punishing people for promoting their beliefs also seems dangerous. It seems like the kind of thing the legal system should stay away from if you ask me.
Granted, the situation is different if the person is doing it in a deliberately agitating way, threatening people, or whatever. But my issue is with the simple fact that someone can be considered criminal based on what they choose to believe or not to believe. As a member of a nation that has often throughout history been persecuted for our beliefs, this seems like a worrisome breach of personal boundaries.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Just wondering...
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3 comments:
That's mostly in European countries...in which they themselves were the perpetrators. ..it's like the Australian government, after having completely decimating the native society and taking their land, doing nothing to those who say Australia never mistreated the Aborigines, or South Africa saying they never mistreated Blacks, etc.
Anyway, the Jews control legislation in most countries!
It's not all countries. I think the only country where it's an actual crime is Germany--which I think is highly appropriate, it should be taken very seriously there.
In the USA, we have this thing called Freedom of Speech as a very basic right. In many European countries they don't. They can prosecute you for being offensive.
There's some guy in Denmark going on trial for making offensive comments about Muslims, for example. (In the near future, our very presence will be offensive, and we'll be arrested as soon as we set foot in those countries...) So, denying the Holocaust is punishable, in those places.
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