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What is wrong with you to put someone you don't know, who has hardly shared their views, on the same level as Nazi's? Nazi's disgust me. Truly, and I mean this: The only thing I did was express my high valuation of free speech. May I ask: do you actually care about free speech at all? Is free speech to you anything that matters? I mean it... I don't want you to go into the ins and outs of all your beliefs. I genuinely want to know... do you believe that free speech matters? Or do you believe that free speech should only be allowed if the words don't disgust you... I stress this: I am not asking you this as a rhetorical question... I want to know what you think.

Look, if terrible people never are allowed to ever converse with good people about their beliefs; what's right or wrong; or whatever it may be.... How does that person ever, ever change for the better? Restricting free speech for the sake of hiding and whimpering in fear of evil people... will not make them go away... it will not help the world; or them, in any way.

If people are allowed to openly talk with people about what they think and believe, they can be reasoned with. If they are not; they will simply join up with their own like-minded group of individuals and cause more harm than if we just allowed them to talk in the first place. If allowing them to speak causes harm, it's because no one was willing to listen to them and reason with them in the first place.

I guess then, in a sense, you could say that society rationally conversing and respectfully debating, is just as vital as free speech itself. You can't have one, but not the other, or else that free speech may cause more harm. If society rationally converses with each other about these issues, but restricts freedom of speech to not allow the sharing of radically opposing ideas, everyone on the "good" side, (so to speak), is bound to lock themselves up in an echo-chamber. And even if the ideas bound within that "echo-chamber" happen to be correct and good, the ones who have opposing ideas (Nazi's, in this case), to the social norm and common beliefs of the world, in turn create an echo-chamber for the dangerous groups such as those Nazi's. This second echo-chamber, allows that group (the Nazi's) to form a rebellion. And what's been happening lately in the world? They've been rebelling; causing harm. If society would just talk with them, we may be able to help them and in turn increase the amount of peace in the world. I am not sympathizing with Nazi's, by the way; I am saying that they can be helped; but only if we allow both free speech and make it part of culture to rationally converse, and respectfully debate everyone, no matter their beliefs. THIS is why I believe in such radical free speech.

I hope you and those reading this will at least understand my perspective, even if you can't agree with it. If I'm wrong, and I acknowledge that I could be; tell me. Just do it with care. That's not just for me but for everyone, even when they get angry or belittle you. We should all be treating each other well. Before this comment, I was starting to get very irrationally angry at the replies people were giving me, but mainly because I was starting to be personally attacked and my character assumed to be terrible. I'm sorry for being like that to you guys. Even if you hate me for this comment and what you may or may not see as my sheer stupidity, I still love ya. I need to take a break from Lemmy and the internet and go touch some grass now.