When the Charlie Hebdo massacre occurred, my friends, led by
my Jewish friends came to the support of the magazine and its employees by
saying and posting "Je suis
Charlie." I jumped on the
bandwagon back then. Lately, I've
struggled with some questions.
Freedom of speech is supremely important, but... is freedom
of hate speech the same thing? Of course
not, but where is the dividing line? I'm
afraid I can't give you a definitive answer.
All I can do is mimic Potter Stewart and say,
"I know it when I see it."
Charlie Hebdo made fun of all religions: Islam, Judaism, Catholicism. But the American Freedom Defense Initiative
is not Charlie Hebdo. And Pamela Geller
is not Gérard Biard. Satire can be
biting but deliberately tryng to provoke an attack by a Muslim, any Muslim,
goes too far.
Geller is the president of the American Freedom Defense
Initiative which has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law
Center. She also runs Stop Islamizaton
of America. The United Kingdom has identified
her as a leader of a hate group and will not let her into that country.
So, although I don't condone any kind of armed attack at
all, I don't have a lot of sympathy for people that taunt and tease until their
target blows his top and does something regrettable.
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