Canada: Bible As Hate Literature

[UltraViolence83]

I knbow this has been discussed before but does anyone else see a double standard here?

I mean, sure you could consider the Bible or Koran to be Hate-Lit but if that makes it banned, that's censorship. I noticed not too many atheists are upset about this, but I am.

I think that the world at large is getting way too politically correct, and may possibly result in a form of oppression very fast.


What are your thoughts, especially those who live in Canada?


PS: If this belongs in N&P, will a mod kindly move it there?

[Enforcer Talen]

remind me bout laws on hate speech and censorship, plz.

banning hate speech = kewl idea.
but managing it without having govt censorship would be tricky.

[Thinkmarble]

In germany the system is basically
"If you want to take away my freedom you lose yours", and I approve of it.

[Darth Wong]

I knbow this has been discussed before but does anyone else see a double standard here?

I mean, sure you could consider the Bible or Koran to be Hate-Lit but if that makes it banned, that's censorship.

Correct. So what? Hate literature is banned in Canada. That includes white-supremacist literature for advocating that blacks are inferior, and it would include the Bible for the entire Old Testament and portions of the New Testament except that there's a special exclusion in the hate-literature laws for the Bible and other well-known religious texts.

I noticed not too many atheists are upset about this, but I am.

I think that the world at large is getting way too politically correct, and may possibly result in a form of oppression very fast.

Yes, it's best to allow hate literature such as that produced by Pat Robertson, right? What possible harm could come of that? *observes unending oppression of homosexuals in USA*

What are your thoughts, especially those who live in Canada?

PS: If this belongs in N&P, will a mod kindly move it there?

Tempest in a teacup. Political discourse is not being suppressed by the banning of hate literature. In the USA, hate literature is actually one of the only things the government is not trying to suppress nowadays. Nothing to be proud of.

PS. Most arguments against hate-speech bans rely on the slippery-slope fallacy that if you ban one particular type of speech, you will eventually ban all kinds of others. That simply does not follow; if the type of speech you ban is, for example, speaking against the government, that is an obvious problem. But if the type of speech you ban is, say, white supremacism, there is no downside.

[Darth Wong]

remind me bout laws on hate speech and censorship, plz.

banning hate speech = kewl idea.
but managing it without having govt censorship would be tricky.

Everyone has government censorship; they just have different threshold levels. Try threatening someone's life in the US, and you'll find that your free speech rights have limits. Those limits simply don't include hate speech in Canada.

[SirNitram]

American: We have freedom of speech!!!1111

Briton: We have Her Majesty's Royal Censure.

Taken from an IRC discussion where the American got upset about something involving free speech in England.

[UltraViolence83]

Hmm well it is hate lit/speech, but then the government needs to decide on what constitutes "hate" in a medium, and I just don't trust any government to tell me what to say in public, even if it is agreeable with my ideals (ie, anti-Biblical oppression of blacks, gays whatnot.)

But now that I actually think about it, alot of people are total idiots. If we lived in a society where most were well-educated, racism and homophobia would be seen by 99% of people for what they are: laughing stocks.

While I disagree with all hate media I've seen so far, I feel there are better ways of combating it, such as education and generally just exposing it to sane people. After all, I never thought the Bible had any "Kill everything in sight because it's not holy" shit in it until I stumbled upon chick.com and this site.

And the fact that such things are "banned" only compels people to investigate them. I fear we may have worse fundies in the near future...More paranoid, possibly violent, and intensely hateful - nevermind that they'll consider themselves more like martyrs.

[BoyRocketeer]

...
But now that I actually think about it, alot of people are total idiots. If we lived in a society where most were well-educated, racism and homophobia would be seen by 99% of people for what they are: laughing stocks...

Bible as hate lit? I guess the only non-hate religious text is buddhist scrolls, i think everybody should go read it instead of warmongering bible or quran.

And no, maybe more than half of the people are homophobes, or against same-sex marriage, no matter how liberal the media wants you to believe.

[UltraViolence83]

Bible as hate lit? I guess the only non-hate religious text is buddhist scrolls, i think everybody should go read it instead of warmongering bible or quran.

True...

And no, maybe more than half of the people are homophobes, or against same-sex marriage, no matter how liberal the media wants you to believe.

I know. But I mean if they were well-educated and not afriad of other people's different lives.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

I assume it's the Amalek lobby who's really pushing to ban the Bible.

[General Zod]

Bible as hate lit? I guess the only non-hate religious text is buddhist scrolls, i think everybody should go read it instead of warmongering bible or quran.

True...

And no, maybe more than half of the people are homophobes, or against same-sex marriage, no matter how liberal the media wants you to believe.

I know. But I mean if they were well-educated and not afriad of other people's different lives.

having a good education isn't analous to not being a bigot. the only thing that will really stem bigotry is actual interaction on a civil level with people from different races and lifestyles.

[Darth Wong]

having a good education isn't analous to not being a bigot.

It is no guarantee, but nothing is. However, there is a strong inverse correlation between education and racism.