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Originally Posted by Deputy Chief Command
ahh Australian sorry for the insult then ;)
but this being free thing doesnt sound right to me , obviously you are not from here, so all your knowledge on this is just hear say ,
I read this in this or that paper
this or that paper said this
and so on and on ,
over here we indeed have very strict laws wich forbid you to deny that the holocaust happened ,
this law imho has nothing to do with free speech ,
just like it wont be tolerated that you as an australian would write books, make tv documentaries or whatever, on how you think all aboriginals are the fillth of the earth or something ,
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Well I know exactly the laws you have, since I know we have similar laws here (very similar in fact). To question the Holocaust here also falls under the 'racial vilification act' which is essentially what you are arguing. What I am arguing however is that this is nonsense, and in fact that to deny free speech on the grounds of it being offensive to certain people is ridiculous. In my opinion the United States presents a clear cut working example of true Freedom of Speech. Of course current politicians have attempted to undermine it somewhat, but ultimately the 1st Amendment has provided Americans with a level of free speech that is unmatched anywhere in the world. Let me also say that the scope of such legislation (such as the racial vilification act here, and the related acts in Europe) stretches far beyong saying "Aboriginals are inferior scum". These laws, just like the recent 'sedition' laws in Australia have such far reaching and broad definitions that left-wing judges have repeatedly used them to convict people with quite more mild opinions.
Take for example the Vlaams Blok political party in Belgium (the largest single party in the nation), it was recently made illegal (of course they are back under a new name, but they were still deemed illegal). Take for example the current prosecution of Nick Griffin leader of the British National Party in Europe, he now faces 7 years (yes YEARS that is more than a pedophile) in jail for his opinions (none of which included the statement that other people were inferior).
Take for example this little website I came across the other day when surfing the web searching for some German Folk Music
http://www.ingeb.org/ . The site which features 20,000 songs recently landed someone in Germany a 2,500 Euro fine. No it wasn't the owner of the site that got the fine, it was a German resident who linked to the site that received the fine, because it was deemed that one of the folk songs on the website broke German law, and thus he was guilty of breaking German law for linking to the website. Did the song shout how 'inferior the scum races of this earth are'? Nope, not at all, here are the reasons for indictment (read here to learn more
http://www.ingeb.org/garb/SA2002.html)
"- Morally endanger German youth
- Social-ethically disorient youth before they have been properly indoctrinated to form their own opinion.
- Have no politically correct disclaimers
- Give an impression of happy life in WWII
- Honour as heroes, soldiers who achieved fame and glory by their achievements.
So yes I believe the United States has more freedom of speech, unquestionably, and I believe the gap is widening as anti-terrorist, anti-sedition, and other such laws are being implemented in other Western nations that don't have the safeguard provided by visionary hero's that the US has.