November 28, 2004

Commentary:

A poisonous atmosphere hurts everyone

    By Jack Grant

A man of some influence shares my belief that the atmosphere created by hateful speech can be deadly:

The Archbishop of Canterbury has called for church traditionalists opposed to homosexuality to stop using inflammatory words about gay people.

Dr Rowan Williams, in a letter to the world's Anglican churches, said harsh language can lead to murder.

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His letter to them reportedly says: "Any words that could make it easier for someone to attack or abuse a homosexual person are words of which we must repent."


I do not believe in defining some crimes as "hate crimes" because murder is murder, regardless of motive, and defining "hate crimes" makes killing some people more heinous than others, which is a bad precedent. I do believe that in polite society we should try to remember that our fellow citizens are human, even if we don't agree with their beliefs. Name-calling and general dehumanizing of opponents does nothing but reduce the credibility of those increasing the poisonous nature of the political environment. Let's try for better, even if in the past it was worse.

Posted by Jack Grant at 18:56 on 28 November 2004
Comments

BS. Free speech is a right in a free society.

You are free to insult me all day. "Sticks and Stones..."

Posted by: Zendo Deb at November 29, 2004 04:41 PM



























































































































































































































































































































































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