Comments on: Words and deeds

By: Freedom of Speech – No Ifs No Buts | FrenchNewsOnline

Freedom of Speech – No Ifs No Buts | FrenchNewsOnline — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 20:06:19 +0000

[...] individual liberty and liberal Western democracy — we thus make no apology for being fundamentalists in the matter of free speech. [...]

By: Let’s Hear it for (Charlie) Hebdo | FrenchNewsOnline

Let’s Hear it for (Charlie) Hebdo | FrenchNewsOnline — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:21:31 +0000

[...] FURTHER UPDATE: In case it be forgotten Flemming Rose, culture editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten explains in this piece in the Washing ton Post the freedom of speech issues behind the original row over the 12 Danish cartoons which in 2006 provoked an earlier storm in the Islamist world: “I commissioned the cartoons in response to several incidents of self-censorship in Europe caused by widening fears and feelings of intimidation in dealing with issues related to Islam. And I still believe that this is a topic that we Europeans must confront, challenging moderate Muslims to speak out. The idea wasn’t to provoke gratuitously — and we certainly didn’t intend to trigger violent demonstrations throughout the Muslim world. Our goal was simply to push back self-imposed limits on expression that seemed to be closing in tighter…if a believer demands that I, as a nonbeliever, observe his taboos in the public domain, he is not asking for my respect, but for my submission. And that is incompatible with a secular democracy… As a former correspondent in the Soviet Union, I am sensitive about calls for censorship on the grounds of insult. This is a popular trick of totalitarian movements: Label any critique or call for debate as an insult and punish the offenders. That is what happened to human rights activists and writers such as Andrei Sakharov, Vladimir Bukovsky, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Natan Sharansky, Boris Pasternak. The regime accused them of anti-Soviet propaganda, just as some Muslims are labeling 12 cartoons in a Danish newspaper anti-Islamic.” (our underlining). Read the whole article by clicking the link. Especially inspiring was the aftermath reaction by Muslim moderates in Denmark. Flemming Rose has published a book recently released in English The Tyranny of Silence, focusing, among other aspects, on the history of European curbs on free speech post-World War II and the role of the horrors of the Holocaust in that development. A long and very worthwhile extract can be found here on the Index on Censorship website [...]

By: Ética de la comunicación | Pearltrees

Ética de la comunicación | Pearltrees — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:34:38 +0000

[...] Words and deeds | Index on Censorship The wording was awkward and technical, though the intention was clear: words and actions were to be considered parallel. There was to be no principle difference between saying something discriminatory and performing discriminatory actions. With time, definitions of racism and discrimination widened, the distinction between words and actions becoming commensurately more blurred. With a public sector growing by the year, the welfare state was afforded wide-reaching privileges and the responsibility of ensuring a new form of equality among citizens. Individuals were no longer simply to enjoy equal opportunities, but were to be ensured equal results. In the welfare state, there were to be no differences, and the rights of the individual were to give way to those of the community. [...]

By: Karl Pfeifer

Karl Pfeifer — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:59:07 +0000

I beg to disagree.
See my essay: The case of David Irving: “Revisionism” and freedom of expression

http://www.engageonline.org.uk/journal/index.php?journal_id=10&article_id=40