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Hate speech but not hate

153 replies

Tropics4 · 04/02/2025 21:22

Why is everything regarded as 'hate speech'. If I do not agree with your beliefs I don't hate you, I just don't agree. For example I believe in biological sex, not 'assigned gender or gender fluid or neither is gay or lesbian my thing but I don't hate anyone for their stance on it, neither would I be rude or harmful to them or wish to incite any harm to them, but why must my not having the same view be regarded as hate? I think the term hate speech is in itself inflammatory and hateful to both parties, agree or not?

OP posts:
Spirallingdownwards · 05/02/2025 14:18

Hate Speech is a legal term which had defined parameters.

It isn't yo do with your beliefs and whether YOU hate someone or not. It is a definition of Speech which gives rise to an action in law.

Up ro you whether you choose to hold a belief but also up to you whether you chose to speak in a way that breaks the law and actionable but if you chose do so then accept the consequences of so doing

Bumpitybumper · 05/02/2025 14:19

YoungGunsHavingSomeFunCrazyLadiesKeepEmOnTheRun · 05/02/2025 13:20

If someone is using their religion to say that your life should change then you can absolutely speak up about that because someone else's belief system shouldn't have an impact on your life.

Whether that about being anti abortion (and therefore wanting to restrict your rights) or being gay (and them deciding who your partner should be based on their belief system).

It doesn't fall true the other way around because someone pro choice isn't going to try and force a woman into an abortion, and someone who is gay isn't going to try and force someone else to be gay based on their views.

People are absolutely entitled to their views, and they are also entitled to express them, but they can't do that in a vacuum, the intent behind expressing those views, and the people they express them to need to be taken into account too.

Just because someone is pro life this doesn't mean they are going to ban abortion and just because someone believes that homosexuality isn't sanctioned in their religion, it doesn't mean that they will outlaw homosexuality. We live in a democracy so it follows that on ethical and moral issues like this that the law is dictated by the majority. Catholic countries may well vote to outlaw abortion for example as that's the will of the people but a civilised country must also allow debate and alternative opinions to be expressed. This should be the same for countries that are pro choice.

You seem to imply that opinions regarding restricting abortion/homosexuality need to be treated differently because they are attempting to impose their values on other people and restrict people's behaviour. This is a slippery slope argument as we have lots of laws that restrict people's actions and behaviours due to ethical and moral considerations.

Bumpitybumper · 05/02/2025 14:22

EchoOf · 05/02/2025 14:14

Why should beliefs that are rooted in religion be treated differently than ones that aren't?

Because they are protected by law? We all have the right to freedom of religion. We have a right to express a religious belief in private or in public.

Kuretake · 05/02/2025 14:23

Tropics4 · 05/02/2025 14:11

Thankyou Shmee1988, yes obviously I'm not a homophones just by saying it's not my thing, otherwise gay people would be hetrophobes because being heterosexual was not their thing. So many responses demonstrate the point of my original post, any view that doesn't conform to certain narratives is deemed hate, something is so terribly wrong with that hey?

Is "not your thing" just you saying you're straight? And someone has accused you of hate speech for this? I'm sorry, I find your OP quite confusing. What is it that is you think you're not allowed to express?

Being straight is not a "view"

ThDanielDay · 05/02/2025 14:28

Tropics4 · 05/02/2025 14:11

Thankyou Shmee1988, yes obviously I'm not a homophones just by saying it's not my thing, otherwise gay people would be hetrophobes because being heterosexual was not their thing. So many responses demonstrate the point of my original post, any view that doesn't conform to certain narratives is deemed hate, something is so terribly wrong with that hey?

No wonder you're finding people abusing you for being straight if you're way of conveying that is "homosexuality just isn't my thing. I don't shares their values or opinions"

But that would be absolutely crazy.

But just to clarify, specifically, what are your opinions on lesbians that your lesbian friends don't share and what are your different values to lesbians.

Is it just that you don't want to sleep with women and they do?

YoungGunsHavingSomeFunCrazyLadiesKeepEmOnTheRun · 05/02/2025 14:38

Bumpitybumper · 05/02/2025 14:19

Just because someone is pro life this doesn't mean they are going to ban abortion and just because someone believes that homosexuality isn't sanctioned in their religion, it doesn't mean that they will outlaw homosexuality. We live in a democracy so it follows that on ethical and moral issues like this that the law is dictated by the majority. Catholic countries may well vote to outlaw abortion for example as that's the will of the people but a civilised country must also allow debate and alternative opinions to be expressed. This should be the same for countries that are pro choice.

You seem to imply that opinions regarding restricting abortion/homosexuality need to be treated differently because they are attempting to impose their values on other people and restrict people's behaviour. This is a slippery slope argument as we have lots of laws that restrict people's actions and behaviours due to ethical and moral considerations.

I'm not implying it at all, I'm literally saying that someone's religion should not impact anyone but the person holding those beliefs.

If someone tells me their faith should impact my life in any way then I'm absolutely correct to say it shouldn't.

You're entitled to choose whatever values you want on yourself and you can think what you like, but the moment you try to impose your values onto others you should expect a push back.

NerrSnerr · 05/02/2025 15:29

Tropics4 · 04/02/2025 21:22

Why is everything regarded as 'hate speech'. If I do not agree with your beliefs I don't hate you, I just don't agree. For example I believe in biological sex, not 'assigned gender or gender fluid or neither is gay or lesbian my thing but I don't hate anyone for their stance on it, neither would I be rude or harmful to them or wish to incite any harm to them, but why must my not having the same view be regarded as hate? I think the term hate speech is in itself inflammatory and hateful to both parties, agree or not?

If being gay or lesbian isn't your think then don't be gay or lesbian. Don't see how it needs to be your 'thing' any more than that.

If, of course you treat someone differently because of their sexual orientation then of course you're a homophobe.

Bobbingtons · 05/02/2025 15:40

Bumpitybumper · 05/02/2025 14:22

Because they are protected by law? We all have the right to freedom of religion. We have a right to express a religious belief in private or in public.

Not necessarily. One of the good things to come out of the Forstarter judgement was that having a belief is protected, but the expression of that belief is not covered by blanket protection if the expression is harassing or derogatory to a person or group. This was made very clear in the judgement.

Dappy777 · 05/02/2025 16:00

Personally, I'm militantly pro free speech. People should be as free as possible to say what they like and like who they like. For example, I was in Ireland shortly after Brexit and was called a f-ing English by someone. Doesn't bother me at all. Not everyone likes everyone else. So long as it doesn't escalate to violence, I don't care. I'm English-British. If people hate me for that, fine.

These attempts to control what people can say don't stop. Once you go down that road, there is no end point. It outrages me beyond words that the woke left are now trying to edit, re-write and even ban certain books. The attempt to re-publish Roald Dahl with some of his words re-written made me furious. I fear it's just the beginning. In fact, I've started buying up classic books from charity shops and putting them in storage. It won't be long before the woke left demand that Jane Austen and George Eliot are edited or banned. The literary canon is the next target, mark my words. They'll go through the classics looking for anything 'offensive'. Then they'll scream and shout and do the whole fake outrage thing. The book will pulled from the syllabus or re-written or whatever, and then they'll move onto the next one.

pointythings · 05/02/2025 16:06

Bumpitybumper · 05/02/2025 14:19

Just because someone is pro life this doesn't mean they are going to ban abortion and just because someone believes that homosexuality isn't sanctioned in their religion, it doesn't mean that they will outlaw homosexuality. We live in a democracy so it follows that on ethical and moral issues like this that the law is dictated by the majority. Catholic countries may well vote to outlaw abortion for example as that's the will of the people but a civilised country must also allow debate and alternative opinions to be expressed. This should be the same for countries that are pro choice.

You seem to imply that opinions regarding restricting abortion/homosexuality need to be treated differently because they are attempting to impose their values on other people and restrict people's behaviour. This is a slippery slope argument as we have lots of laws that restrict people's actions and behaviours due to ethical and moral considerations.

There is a huge difference between ethical/moral considerations and religious ones. You cannot assume that everything which is done in the name of religion is automatically ethically and morally acceptable- it manifestly is not, and there are many denominations across all faiths whose religious laws are oppressive, immoral, cruel or all of the above. Laws should be secular. There can be input from faith groups, but ultimately the law must serve everyone, not just those of faith. Abandon that principle and see what happens: Iran, Afghanistan and now swathes of the US.

myplace · 05/02/2025 16:29

There’s an issue with ‘hate speech’ being used to control what people are allowed to say outside of the legal system. As in, if I say in the pub that I don’t agree with same sex marriage, that isn’t hate speech. It doesn’t meet the legal definition of hate speech, and should not be used to shut people down.

By all means call me a bigot, but don’t accuse me of hate speech.

I’m not enthusiastic about attempts to prevent people talking in ways you don’t like.

myplace · 05/02/2025 16:30

This is a really interesting conversation, at least where it avoids berating other people for their opinions.

Bumpitybumper · 05/02/2025 16:37

pointythings · 05/02/2025 16:06

There is a huge difference between ethical/moral considerations and religious ones. You cannot assume that everything which is done in the name of religion is automatically ethically and morally acceptable- it manifestly is not, and there are many denominations across all faiths whose religious laws are oppressive, immoral, cruel or all of the above. Laws should be secular. There can be input from faith groups, but ultimately the law must serve everyone, not just those of faith. Abandon that principle and see what happens: Iran, Afghanistan and now swathes of the US.

Ethics and morals hugely overlap with religion for those who are religious. To pretend otherwise is completely disingenuous.

What is ethically and morally 'acceptable' is subjective in nature and largely changes over time.

Our laws in this country aren't really completely secular in nature at the moment as there is a huge bias towards Christianity. Even the very idea that you can have a secular country wouldn't even be a concept in some cultures with a different religious background. Western atheism is still hugely influenced by Christianity.

Tropics4 · 05/02/2025 17:19

myplace · 05/02/2025 16:29

There’s an issue with ‘hate speech’ being used to control what people are allowed to say outside of the legal system. As in, if I say in the pub that I don’t agree with same sex marriage, that isn’t hate speech. It doesn’t meet the legal definition of hate speech, and should not be used to shut people down.

By all means call me a bigot, but don’t accuse me of hate speech.

I’m not enthusiastic about attempts to prevent people talking in ways you don’t like.

Yes this is the sort of thing I mean, for clarity I'm straight but I don't think I should be censured for saying 'gay isn't my thing' it's getting crazy when words have to be chosen so very carefully that it is almost a fearful thing to speak. I made it clear that I don't hate anyone and dearly love a lesbian member of my own family, she chooses her path I choose mine, both stating our different views or lifestyles is not hate.
This is all I'm saying. Even here perhaps for my own poor expression I have been accused of being several things which are not true, this us how dangerous things have become where it can be scary thing to share an opinion and obviously I don't mean an obviously hateful like abusing a race or religion or lifestyle.

OP posts:
Princessconsuelabananahammock9 · 05/02/2025 17:30

Shmee1988 · 05/02/2025 13:21

Well is it not surely just that she doesn't fancy women and prefers a relationship with a man? She's not saying lesbianism is wrong, just that it's not for her. It's not for me either but that doesn't mean I can't be open and accepting and loving toward people that are. Just because someone says they don't share the same values doesn't automatically make them a homophobe and it's the people who so readily throw these terms around that exacerbate the problem.

What values?

Being gay isn’t a moral or a value. Some people are born gay. End of story.

Princessconsuelabananahammock9 · 05/02/2025 17:31

She’s not choosing a path though? She’s a lesbian.

Are you saying you chose to be straight?

Princessconsuelabananahammock9 · 05/02/2025 17:34

When you talk about being careful of using “ those words” it’s because those words have been used to keep gay people from having the same rights as straight people.

I still don’t know what you mean by it’s not your thing?

JandamiHash · 05/02/2025 17:35

We live in the era of the melodramatic.

JandamiHash · 05/02/2025 17:38

Dappy777 · 05/02/2025 16:00

Personally, I'm militantly pro free speech. People should be as free as possible to say what they like and like who they like. For example, I was in Ireland shortly after Brexit and was called a f-ing English by someone. Doesn't bother me at all. Not everyone likes everyone else. So long as it doesn't escalate to violence, I don't care. I'm English-British. If people hate me for that, fine.

These attempts to control what people can say don't stop. Once you go down that road, there is no end point. It outrages me beyond words that the woke left are now trying to edit, re-write and even ban certain books. The attempt to re-publish Roald Dahl with some of his words re-written made me furious. I fear it's just the beginning. In fact, I've started buying up classic books from charity shops and putting them in storage. It won't be long before the woke left demand that Jane Austen and George Eliot are edited or banned. The literary canon is the next target, mark my words. They'll go through the classics looking for anything 'offensive'. Then they'll scream and shout and do the whole fake outrage thing. The book will pulled from the syllabus or re-written or whatever, and then they'll move onto the next one.

In fairness Roald Dahl was antisemitic as fuck and Jewish people have it hard enough without having to put up with a dead and long reverted children’s author making things worse for them.

I was also pleased to hear that the Wishing Chair fairy’s name had been changed in updated version. We don’t NEED racist name or antisemitic words

Onlyonekenobe · 05/02/2025 17:41

Well, it can depend.

For lots of people it's a case of "if you don't love what I stand for, you hate what I stand for".

Personally, I don't think there are all that many instances where this is true. But there are some. For example, if you don't love that someone (say) is standing up for anti-fascism, you're at best ok with fascism. Which can indeed be hate speech by definition.

SapphOhNo · 05/02/2025 17:43

It's your turn of phrase that's bizarre OP. "Not my thing " "chosen their path" and now lifestyle... sounds like a smokescreen for being a homophone.

Itssofunny · 05/02/2025 17:44

YoungGunsHavingSomeFunCrazyLadiesKeepEmOnTheRun · 05/02/2025 13:39

Someone anti abortion thinks no-one should be allowed to have abortions.

Someone pro choice doesn't believe everyone should have abortions.

Someone homophobic doesn't believe gay people should exist or be able to love who they want.

Someone gay doesn't think everyone should be gay and straight people shouldn't exist.

So, no, it doesn't hold true the other way around. It's not arrogant, it's just facts.

Quite dramatic to say that someone who doesn't want same-sex marriage or whatever thinks people shouldn't exist. You can be homophobic without wishing death on people! I'm guessing you mean they wish lgbt people would think and live their lives differently?

Using the same terminology, there are plenty of gay (and straight) people who think homophobic people shouldn't exist. Also many people who think religious fundamentalists shouldn't exist. And re gay marriage, most of the population would be against Mormon style multiple wives etc and think that shouldn't be allowed.

It really is about having very different values and ways of looking at the world. So long as we're all allowed to hold our views, hold free elections and all follow the law, then it works. A religious person quietly going about their lives believing that marriage should be only for 1 man and 1 woman isn't any better or worse than a person quietly going about their lives thinking that marriage should be open to everyone. It's okay to think differently.

And regarding abortions, many pro-life life people truly believe that life begins at conception and that we're killing babies. I always have a lot of sympathy for them, it must be horrible. I am in a way similar in that I am against late-term abortions which are thankfully not allowed in most countries. There are some states in the U.S. that do allow abortions all the way to 9 months (even without medical necessity). For example, Colorado. I find it very upsetting to think of 8 and a half month fetuses being aborted instead of delivered and allowed a chance at life. I wish it weren't legal so late. I guess that makes me a bad person in your eyes, but personally I think I should be able to have my own
opinion. How am I hurting anyone by holding a different view point?

JandamiHash · 05/02/2025 17:48

Itssofunny · 05/02/2025 17:44

Quite dramatic to say that someone who doesn't want same-sex marriage or whatever thinks people shouldn't exist. You can be homophobic without wishing death on people! I'm guessing you mean they wish lgbt people would think and live their lives differently?

Using the same terminology, there are plenty of gay (and straight) people who think homophobic people shouldn't exist. Also many people who think religious fundamentalists shouldn't exist. And re gay marriage, most of the population would be against Mormon style multiple wives etc and think that shouldn't be allowed.

It really is about having very different values and ways of looking at the world. So long as we're all allowed to hold our views, hold free elections and all follow the law, then it works. A religious person quietly going about their lives believing that marriage should be only for 1 man and 1 woman isn't any better or worse than a person quietly going about their lives thinking that marriage should be open to everyone. It's okay to think differently.

And regarding abortions, many pro-life life people truly believe that life begins at conception and that we're killing babies. I always have a lot of sympathy for them, it must be horrible. I am in a way similar in that I am against late-term abortions which are thankfully not allowed in most countries. There are some states in the U.S. that do allow abortions all the way to 9 months (even without medical necessity). For example, Colorado. I find it very upsetting to think of 8 and a half month fetuses being aborted instead of delivered and allowed a chance at life. I wish it weren't legal so late. I guess that makes me a bad person in your eyes, but personally I think I should be able to have my own
opinion. How am I hurting anyone by holding a different view point?

Yes the “You’re saying we don’t exist” narrative is tiresome and illogical. People say it about trans people all the time. Of course you exist, you’re standing in front of me. It would be stupid of me to deny that. But you aren’t a woman no matter how much you wear lipstick and a pink beret

Princessconsuelabananahammock9 · 05/02/2025 17:48

Multiple wives in Mormon marriages are not the same as gay marriage.

Gay marriage is not harming people. It was not created to abuse young girls and women.

Itssofunny · 05/02/2025 17:51

Princessconsuelabananahammock9 · 05/02/2025 17:48

Multiple wives in Mormon marriages are not the same as gay marriage.

Gay marriage is not harming people. It was not created to abuse young girls and women.

But what if three consenting adults in a fully committed relationship wished to get married? There are some people who think that should be legal. Many others think it shouldn't. That's a difference of opinion, it doesn't make anyone hateful or hurtful or anything else.

We have to follow our current laws in our country. If we want to change them, we have to convince enough people to vote for politicians that will make those changes.

Getting dramatic and talking about "wishing people didn't exist" just doesn't make sense to me.

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