@coldjoint,
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And what does this have to do with free speech? That is the real issue here. You are trying to silence criticism of homosexuality by calling believers names. They have their reasons and that is their right.
There is no need to demonize them for expressing a valid opinion.
What rank are you in the Thought Police? PFC?
It was Phil Robertson who did all the name-calling.
Negatively stereotyping entire groups is questionable in terms of being a "valid opinion." Stereotypes are never valid because they never apply to all members of a group, and that was true of the accusations ("murderers" "terrorists") that Robertson levels at homosexuals, as well as his stereotypes of those happy blacks in Jim Crow era Louisiana, who he apparently thinks were more content when they were subjugated by the white man.
Robertson expressed his opinions, but they are more bigoted than valid, regardless of whether or not he used the Bible to arrive at his opinions--those are his personal opinions, and they couldn't stand up to any test of validity. He can't speak for, or represent, all Christians, many of whom, including the current Pope, wouldn't agree with the total lack of respect he voices toward gays as human beings, regardless of how they might feel about same-sex marriage.
And "free speech" does not mean that a person's speech is protected from negative reactions. Phil Robertson can criticize homosexuals, he can insult anyone he wishes to, he can express all the hate he wants to, that doesn't mean his remarks should be accepted with silence. What rank are you in the Thought Police? PFC?
Similarly, there is no need on your part to "demonize" the activist groups for expressing their offense at how they are being unfairly labeled and stereotyped and treated. As you said, "They have their reasons and that is their right," and that right pertains to everyone.
But you do dismiss, and try to silence, comments by African-American advocacy and civil rights groups by calling them "race-baiters" suggesting that, in your mind, these people are nothing but trouble makers, without legitimate concerns about manifestations of racism.
Quote:It is about controlling the narrative by intimidating those who disagree by numbers against them...
But that's exactly what the right-wing Christian advocacy groups do. That's exactly what Faith Driven Consumers did to A & E in the case of Phil Robertson. That's exactly what The Family Research Council, another right-wing Christian group, does all the time. Where is your criticism of those groups and their tactics? Why is your criticism only directed at black and LGBT civil rights advocacy groups, and never at the right-wing Christian groups? Engineer posted information about how these groups intimate businesses and make them fearful of expressing any support for same-sex marriage.
The offended groups in the Robertson matter didn't threaten or intimidate Phil Robertson, or any of his various businesses, at all. And all they wanted from A & E was to sit down and discuss the issue with them, something the network went along with. All of the organized threatening and intimidation came from the right-wing Christians who organized and directed it against A & E.
