Michael,
Thanks for the cheap shot, I feel much better now.
You wrote:
"I do not agree with censorship and believe in freedom of speech; that freedom comes with obvious limits as recognized by a moral society.."
Define morals. Sex with a 13 yr old? Ghastly- and I concur. However, 100 years ago many were married at 12, and pumping out kids by 13. Ask any of our parents what they thing of Brittany Spears behaviour...she would have been jailed years ago...just as the first woman to ride a motorcycle across the country was- her crime? Wearing pants.
Morals change, for right or wrong, and your morals are yours, but not necessarily mine.
Perhaps they should be. After all, one of the things that defines a country are it‘s social mores and individual morals. In an immigrant friendly nation like ours, however, the old "one shoe fits all" is dead: we are a nation of widely varied customs and morals, and it‘s a heck of a job gaining consensus.
It‘s exacerbated by narrow minded individuals who can‘t let go of the past, and insist on legislating their personal beliefs.
We used to call them "busybodies".
I‘ll agree with you that seeing a Nazi party flag flying in front of a persons house would drive me nuts. What would really cheeze me off is finding out that my tax dollars are paying the rent.
I‘ve been in this position before (seeing things that people did that cheezed me off). You know what I did? Nothing. Why? None of my danged business.
Please don‘t confuse this with, as a society, failing to protect the weak. That involves the rule of law, backed by the will of society. Thank God we still have a semblance of that.
Now, if their pursuit of personal happiness infringed on my ability to pursue mine, then we have a problem. For instance, the Aryan Nation moves in next door. Pleasant? No. However, they bought and paid for the land, my tough luck. If they have the stereo banging at 3 in the morning, keeping me awake, it becomes their poor decision.
You will never be able to legislate common sense (too bad too) nor will you ever agree with 30 million people just exactly what constitutes good moral beliefs. (once again, too bad)
You can, however, pontificate from on high just fine.
Need a q-tip?
Cheers-Garry