I voted "yes." Freedom of speech is one of the most important rights we have. Unfortunately, we are in an time when that freedom is often twisted and used against the speaker. Political Correctness is a cancer and it has, and is, killing our ability to solve problems by engaging in honest debate. Add that to the relative immaturity of our people (all of us), and we end up simply attacking one another and playing the blame game instead of actually moving towards actually solving problems. Also, there are far too many people on both the Right and the Left, who only support freedom of speech when it is speech with which they agree. That's just plain hypocrisy.
For those of you complaining about us closing threads, take the topic of race. It is extremely difficult to have a discussion on the subject because either someone wants to be "funny," or someone just cannot contain their racism and has to use derogatory language. It is one thing to say the Black Community has issues that are unique to their community and talk about those issues and try to understand them. It's quite another to refer to Blacks as "hood rats" and "welfare queens." While you have a right to say what you want, I have a right to take it off. I have rarely banned anyone except the most egregious posters. You do have a right to be a racist, just don't whine if society marginalizes you and your beliefs.
Maybe if we (Americans) actually took the time to try and understand why we feel and believe as we do, we could reach a point where race and religion do not matter so much. Maybe then we could reach a point where are collective differences are regarded with some respectful appreciation, and as a source of national strength, instead of something to divide us and keep us distracted from improving the quality of life for ALL Americans.
For those of you complaining about us closing threads, take the topic of race. It is extremely difficult to have a discussion on the subject because either someone wants to be "funny," or someone just cannot contain their racism and has to use derogatory language. It is one thing to say the Black Community has issues that are unique to their community and talk about those issues and try to understand them. It's quite another to refer to Blacks as "hood rats" and "welfare queens." While you have a right to say what you want, I have a right to take it off. I have rarely banned anyone except the most egregious posters. You do have a right to be a racist, just don't whine if society marginalizes you and your beliefs.
Maybe if we (Americans) actually took the time to try and understand why we feel and believe as we do, we could reach a point where race and religion do not matter so much. Maybe then we could reach a point where are collective differences are regarded with some respectful appreciation, and as a source of national strength, instead of something to divide us and keep us distracted from improving the quality of life for ALL Americans.