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I think you are arguing against a different point to what we are arguing for. Basically, there should be a division of the laws, so there is one law to deal with free speech, and as far as I'm concerned that should be limitless. You should be able to say and think whatever you like.
But then there should be laws against threatening behaviour including the use of free speech (which there already are), and laws against inciting hatred / violence (which there already are). So if you go into a town centre and start spouting racist vitriol (cant spell that word
As soon as you make just saying something the crime though, it does open up a big can of worms. The context matters. Who it was said to matters. The spirit it was said in matters. Now, back to Westboro, whilst I'm 100% sure they are undesirables and would rather not have them here, I feel uncomfortable about the state making that assumption and barring them entry. Our system of justice is based on innocent until proven guilty. I don't trust the home secretary to get it right every time, so I would rather we lay out a legal framework, and let people in (we are a multicultural country afterall, migrants from all over the world). If they then break the laws we can deal with them in the right and proper way.
What you are suggesting, is that if someone says something racist, in their own home in private company, that they should not be allowed to do that. I am suggesting it should remain as it is, where they can say what they like, on the condition that it does not affect anyone elses rights. So you can't call a black person a nigger, you can't shout homophobic stuff at people. The difference in subtle but it is very important, because it is about the conveyed meaning and intention of the words, rather than just the words themselves.
How go you do from saying something like "I disagree with same sex relationships" to "lets kill anyone in a same sex relatioship"? Murder is a crime. Assult is a crime. Abusing someone in anyway because of their gender, sexuality, race, religion or for any other reason is a crime. I've never heard anyone say it shouldn't be. I believe that any person or society that is reluctant to trust people to make up their own minds after hearing all sides of an argument must be irrational, because in most countries they say laws are there to protect the individual. Would that be the individual that is going to make the "wrong" choice about what they believe? If you really think that people can't be trusted to think and talk why bother protecting them at all? Why don't we just organise a global suicide pact before our thoughts start hurting people?
As I see it, if you don't trust people to talk you have no respect for, or faith in, anybody. If somebody did say something like all black people are rapists to, or around me, I would disagree with them, and if I was with anyone it would probably result in a discussion about racism. I actually know someone who would call herself racist and yet would be horrified by that comment, probably to the point of abandoning her belief that certain people should be a higher priority for housing and health care. The main thing I would want to know is why they said it. Maybe they, or someone they knew, was raped by someone who was black. In that case they wouldn't need more judgement, they'd just be trying to protect themselves. Maybe that's just what they were told as a child. Maybe they're annoyed because a black child got a place at the school they wanted their child to go to. None of these things makes it ok, but can you see how these situations could be resolved in different ways? We'll never know why people feel as they do unless we allow them to tell us. I know homophobic people, or racists, are often portrayed as idiots who were born evil, and I'm sure many of them are, but looking at the numbers of people who are against gay marriage or immigration makes it seem in possible that they came to those conclusions without even thinking about it. If people could just say thinks like "I don't think it's fair that I've been working for 25 years and can't get a bigger council house, but immigrants can" the situation could be dealt with. Because they can't they feel that they're being decriminated against, and become more extreme in ther views. I agree that making generalisations about a certain race or religion is wrong, I think most of society would agree, which gives us the chance to agree on something and re-affirm our values and beliefs that no one should be hurt, killed or abused for something like sexuality or religion.
As I've already said, your view on free speech depends on whether or not you trust people. If you don't, you should probably be focusing on more important things, like removing anything sharp incase someone cuts themselves.
It's called a straw man. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man
It's a way of cheating to try to win a debate :impissed: :razz: