s3x_JAY on Nostr: I think you put the words in your own mouth… You say "The term 'hate speech' is ...

I think you put the words in your own mouth…

You say "The term 'hate speech' is hate speech". I give an example where my announcement of the first LGBTQ relay gets a reply of "kill all child groomers". It was a clear death threat - perhaps not aimed specifically at me, but aimed at people _like_ me. I label that "hate speech" and you push back saying…

"Is that a political statement or a personal threat? The former is protected, the latter is criminal. "Hate speech" as a category is a way of criminalizing speech based on its political content."

So you just labeled a death threat as a "political statement". Basically you're condoning, or at least excusing/facilitating, violence and murder.

Sorry, but…

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Or to look at it another way - you make it clear that you're a Christian. I was brought up in an evangelical/fundamentalist Christian home. I went to a Baptist school for many years, church three times a week… There was even a period when Jerry Falwell was my pastor. I understand Christianity well. (I'm now a Deist.)

So "what would Jesus do" in this situation? If you look only at his words and his life - he relentlessly stood up for the powerless and the disadvantaged. He accepted people for who they were and simply asked them to be better. The only time in his life he was ever violent was when people had corrupted religion. When it came to civil society he advocated getting along with others - going as far as simply accepting the authority of a violent/abusive government (e.g. "pay unto Caesar…", and allowing himself to be crucified).

I'm sorry, but the Jesus I studied as a child would never see what I posted as anything but hate speech. He preached the exact opposite of that - "Do unto others…"

I think what you're missing is that intolerance of intolerance is a double negative. The outcome of being intolerant of intolerance is tolerance, not more intolerance. That's just how double negatives work - both in language and in math. Saying "The term 'hate speech' is hate speech" is wrong because you're saying intolerance of intolerance (e.g. calling hate what it is - hate) is just like other forms of intolerance. It's not.

But seriously - if you're gonna label yourself a Christian - at least try to be Christ-like… Jesus didn't/wouldn't call death threats "political statements". While he might tell someone to "turn the other cheek" when faced with a death threat (as he did), he wouldn't condone/excuse/facilitate the person issuing the death threat.