Posted on 03/19/2015 3:31:00 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A human rights activist and writer is dismayed that there are no laws that allow the imprisonment of those who state certain offensive positions, such as Bill Maher and Phil Robertson.
If the United States were a "civilized country" like those in Europe, Tanya Cohen wrote for Thought Catalog, then Robertson, a reality show star on A&E's "Duck Dynasty," "would have been taken before a government Human Rights Tribunal or Human Rights Commission and given a fine or prison sentence for the hateful and bigoted comments that he made about LGBT people."
Among the types of speech that should be punished, Cohen mentioned saying that Islamic terrorists are linked to Islam, saying gay marriage is not really marriage, and saying that men who want to be called women are really men.
Besides Robertson, Cohen named Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin.
Comedian Bill Maher, a liberal atheist who has said that Muslims are more violent than Christians, was also listed. Maher incited the recent shooting of three Muslims, she charged. If there were laws against hate speech, Maher "would be held legally accountable for the shooting."
"When people like this are allowed to sway public opinion against the common good, it can have disastrous consequences," she wrote.
Comparing the United States again to other, mostly European nations that have more restrictions on speech, she wrote that "only in the U.S. is 'freedom of speech' so restrictive and repressive."
She then complained that there is no law in the United States that allows the banning of movies, book, video games, groups or political parties.
Nations that have a "more sensible approach to freedom of expression," Cohen argued, would allow "legitimate freedom of expression," but would ban a host of other voices, including "anti-vaxxers," "climate change deniers," "pick-up artists," and "harmful media." The song "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams should also be banned for encouraging rape.
The U.S. is "completely backwards" and "positively uncivilized" in its free speech protections, Cohen believes. Even "third world" countries like Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are better at freedom of speech by banning certain types of speech, she added.
Americans are the only people on the planet who believe that freedom of speech protects offensive speech, Cohen insisted.
"There is absolutely nobody outside of the U.S. who thinks that there shouldn't be ANY laws against hate speech, racial vilification, or incitement to hatred. That idea is just unthinkable in a society where basic human rights exist. The U.S. has a dismal record on human rights, as indicated by the fact that it still doesn't have universal healthcare, still carries out executions, still hasn't banned firearms, and still tortures people, to name just a few things. But having NO laws against incitement to hatred? It's just impossible for people in civilized countries in the year 2015 to even conceive of such a thing," she wrote. (Emphasis in original.)
People outside the U.S. are "left in stunned disbelief and disgust," she continued, when they find out that it is considered "the land of the free" and a democracy, yet does not have a law banning hate speech. This claim, she added, is "not even an exaggeration," because, "hate speech laws have absolutely universal support from every single facet of society," outside of the U.S.
Freedom of speech, Cohen explained, should give people the right to criticize the government "in a civil, polite, and respectful manner," but should not give the "right to offend, to insult, to disrespect, to oppose human rights, to argue against the common good, to voice approval of totalitarian ideologies, to perpetuate toxic systems of privilege and oppression, to promote ideas which have no place in a modern democratic society, to be provocative or incendiary, or to express opinions which are unacceptable to the majority of people."
As a remedy, Cohen suggested passing laws banning hate speech and letting the United Nations prosecute American citizens who violate international hate speech laws.
On her Twitter account, Cohen describes herself as a "human rights activist and writer."
Thought Catalog describes its mission this way: "We want to support freedom of speech, empower writers and readers on their own terms, and make Thought Catalog an online magazine that represents the worldviews and rhetorical styles of as many people as possible."
The Christian Post contacted Thought Catalog and asked if Cohen's article was intended to be satirical but received no response by press time.
There will be soon.
These people are very, very dangerous, and they are also very, very numerous. In fact, if we were to believe the mainstream media, they are now the majority.
By her own standards, she’d be locked up as well.
I pity the fool who tries to arrest Phil Robertson....
I “HATE” human rights activist! There, arrest me you facist thug. I beg you to TRY!
Yeah, basic human rights, such as freedom of speech.
The day they arrest those guys, we storm the Bastille
[ These people are very, very dangerous, and they are also very, very numerous. ]
You also forgot to mention they are very very immature...
That’s the goal. Use the State to exterminate Christians.
I’ll bet $100 her ancestors worshiped Hitler. Most of the left did before 1936.
Typical statist liberal-only her views should be allowed,in her opinion.
My opinion is she ought to try actual thinking instead of feeeelings.
I saw a guy today at Sam’s Club who was a spitting image of Phil Robertson. Hair, beard, headband, and cammos.
Can you imagine waking up every morning and heading off to fight for human rights?
She probably couldn’t get a real job.
.
People like her need to be executed on the spot. People have free speech to say whatever good or stupid opinions they have.
Opinions are not shouting “fire” in a theater when there is no fire. Plus someone like Maher is not saying that without evidence. There is ample historical and current evidence showing Maher is correct in saying what he did.
Well I’m willing to violate the 1st Amendment and muzzle her, if she’d like.
Dude, it’s those immature guys and gals who murdered millions of people just for the sake of their own temper tantrums. I mean, immature with tons of power is dangerous.
Probably trying to look like Phil. I guess he pulled it off : )
Didn’t she used to write for Fascism Today? Or was that Elizabeth Warren.... ?
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