It's NOT ok to hate them!

Do you truly believe in freedom of speech? Or is it only what you believe for yourself? The silencing of one man is equal to the silencing of a nation. People may use language you don't like; they may speak words you don't wish to hear; they may tell lies; but it should be noted that they may. THAT is freedom of speech; anything less than that is censorship.

That is my definition of freedom of speech. As you know, I don't expect my friends to agree with me; you and I are occasionally on opposite sides of the fence, but I know that, while you may not agree with what I say, you will listen.

To me, that speaks volumes within itself.

Say what?

*Looks around for a troll* Hmmmm?

Speaks quietly so trolls can't hear or is that writes slowly so trolls can't read what is thought...

*Looks around again*

Shhh! Be wery careful, we're hunting wabbits today, they look like trolls...

Hmmm...Now I know why I like you, we share a lot of common ground. I try not to lump conservatives into one big group and I know that I have and 99% of the time it's because I've had it with the discussion I'm stuck in and don't think carefully about the words I use.

I don't hate anyone until they give me a good reason and sometimes I'm not smart enough to listen to myself and continue hating them. I let them say their sorry and move on LOL

There are good liberals there are bad ones just like there are good conservatives and bad ones. And, what people fail to realize is that the BAD ones don't represent the whole! I always have to stop my husband when he gets on a rant about conservatives and say "did that conservative actually do that to you or did another conservative do that to you". He stops then LOL

Everyone should be able to say what they want as long as it doesn't infringe on other's rights for safty and whatnot. I like when people don't agree with me because if they are RESPECTFUL they may give me a whole new look at the issue.

I feel everyone has a right to their opinion on everything.. I do not hate anyone because tey have adifferent opinion than i do on topics. I, like you just may see things differently once 'e heard other's opinions..But then gain i may not..BUT that is MY right as an American, the right to my opinion on things. I dn't HATE anyone, not even my ex.... i may dislike people butOT fr their views on someting..vry good topic today...lori

I don't hate alot of people as a general rule; I hate certain ideologies because I see them as harmful and dangerous and I hate ignorance and stupidity. And yeah, when people espouse certain ideologies that by their very nature seek to enslave or oppress then I see the person espousing them as my adversary.

No matter how heated things get in a debate I'm always willing to find common ground, but let's face it; there are certain people we've come across online (not just at mylot) who are quite frankly bad people and I don't feel in the least bit guilty about not liking them. By their own admission these individuals are persons I would not wish to associate with in real life and I'm absolutely okay with that. I'm not going to go out of my way to bother them but I don't have to like everyone and I don't need everyone to like me. As long as they stay away from me I'm perfectly content to leave them alone as well.

Thank you for this post, it is so refreshing to hear this said and you have expressed it so much better than some of my attempts!

I am finding, having moved to America from England, that whereas I was possibly more conservative in England, over here I am often considered Liberal in a conversation because I have certain views on various things, health care being just one example. I don't particularly put a label on myself,I just believe what I believe and honestly sometimes I fit into both camps depending on what the issue is. So all this lumping in together - you are conservative and you are liberal and we must hate each other because we don't agree stuff is really ridiculous.

Sometimes someones stance on something, for example if they are very racist or such, can be offensive, or people can express things in a rude and nasty way, but on the whole, we don't have to agree on the issues to have mutual respect as people.

I am a Christian and when I was doing drama at college, one of the teachers I most admired and who I was inspired so much by happened to be an atheist. He used to sing 'Jesus wants me for a sunbeam' every time I came into the room, but he came to see, and helped me put together, my degree piece which was written from a Christian point of view and performed in churches. I hugely disagreed with some of his views, but I thought he was fantastic and we had some very honest and very funny chats!

I think you bring up an essential point, thanks.

Thanks for this, excelent thread. And an EXCELENT opotunity for me to repeat my mantra. They (politicians) WANT us to hate each other, they WANT us to be divided. It's what the whole left/right thing is about. They want us to see things only in those terms, put us in those little red and blue boxes and teach us that the other side is the "enemy". When in truth the REAL enemy are those perpetuating that divide, the politicians. The real war isn't between left and right, conservatives and liberal, democrats and republicans, it is btween people and politicians and they know, that if the american public ever figures that out in mass numbers, they're done for.

Bravo, Kitty! Someone recently posted a discussion here about "Why Conservatives HATE Liberals" and I found it to be very sad. I gave a bit of a sarcastic response but I certainly KNOW there are more conservatives with your attitude than with that poster's just as there are more liberals like me than the hateful kind. Unfortunately, hate and mean-spiritedness isn't limited to any political ideology, in fact that trait in a person has nothing to do with their political opinions. I grew up in a family where heated political discussions were part of our daily routine, with each other and with friends of relatives who visited, but there was no hate or anger to be found. Therefore, I'm just like you in that some of my favorite people have totally opposite views from mine on many issues including politics. They're just our OPINIONS and they're shaped by different things in our background and experiences. ABSOLUTELY, I can admit things have gotten very ugly lately and both sides have played a part in the ugliness. I wish everyone could learn something from the events of the past week regarding the late Ted Kennedy. I know some on the right didn't like him at all and certainly disagreed with him on many issues. I think we can all admit he made some serious mistakes in his lifetime. However, seeing and hearing the stories from so many people from both sides of the aisle who loved him and were loved by him despite their differences should show us all that there's a lot more to a person than their political affiliation or opinions. I'm afraid it's not happening as much today with the younger Senators and Congressmen and women but there have been many strong friendships that have lasted for three or more decades between people who argued and debated bitterly on the floors of the Capitol by day and got together with each others' families after their work was done and offered friendship and support to each other through good times and bad.

To answer your question, free speech should absolutely apply to everyone whether they agree with me or not! I DO, however, believe fervently that with freedom comes responsibility and everyone from both sides should try to avoid saying things that may spark violence against someone. I know there's no way to enforce that, it's just something I wish everyone would think about before they speak.

Annie

Free speech is what it is freedom to speak your mind, does not mean I want to listen to it. Now you can hate someone and still allow them to speak their mind, or in our circumstances write our minds. Take for instance someone who is going to praise laws that would force me to change my life so I conform to their standard of life style, I am going to have a hard time in loving them. Yet they still have the right to spew their garbage.

hi angry kittymsv wow you are such an excellent writer and have a way of making things so clear.I try but get snarled up in all the anger and everything going on now about all these various political issues.
You make your point well and thats the same point I think Mylot emphasizes. that we allrespect each others viewpoints.we cannot all'expect all of our friends to agree on alltopics with us.we each one are unique, and too it makes it much more enjoyable if we do not allagree. oh sure we would like it a lot if our friends all thought the same way, but still it would get really boring too. I agree with all you have sAid, and feel the same way only you have more of a gift for writing than I do,.thanks for a great discussion.