When EX-CHRC Gas Bags Deflate

Blazing Cat Fur

Max Yalden is out of touch with real society, as one would expect from a former CHRC Chief Commissar, certainly if the current leader of that band is any indication of out of touchness, and also plain old touchiness.

The Star gave him a place to vent his spleen this morning, in a piece that made me bilious. Can't wait to burn his new book.

Quoting from the piece:

Sometimes it is useful to return to a contentious topic long after it has disappeared from the headlines, public passions have subsided and minds are perhaps more open to sober second thought.

One such subject is free speech vs. freedom from hate. A debate on it raged for months, triggered by complaints by a group of Muslims against Maclean's magazine for being allegedly anti-Islamic. But the issue was never fully resolved. Understandable, given that there's no easy answer.

"Clearly both are desirable in any civilized society but they are often seen as being in conflict. Need this necessarily be so? Except as between unrepentant hate-mongers, on the one hand, and over-committed freedom of speech freaks, on the other, I do not see why they should be."

What moron thinks that free speech has disappeared from the headlines. As long as those in favour of a right to take away our right to free speech keep blathering on, those who believe that the Right to Free Speech is a fundamental right and freedom in Canada will not let this rest. It may not be in the press every single day, but it will be there on a regular basis.

So, free speech and freedom from hate are both desirable in a civilized society, eh! Give me a break. Hatred is an emotional response to something that a person does not like. Hating some things is a good thing. Hating others not so much. So, by denying those who hate something or someone the right to speak their piece is going to make it better, NOT! It will go underground for a time, like it did just before Hitler arose to power, largely resulting in his rise to power.

As I looked around, I was not the only one disturbed by this piece, and so rather than rehash this, I will recommend that you follow the link below over to Blazing Cat Fur's comment and links. Make sure that you take the first link to Scaramouche for a dissection of the Star piece.

Blazing Cat Fur: When EX-CHRC Gas Bags Deflate