To: redfish who wrote (1 ) 4/16/2004 2:55:29 PM From: epicure Read Replies (1) | Respond to Well, if it were true, it would be great, but names do hurt. That is why children cry when they get called names. When people are called names they feel pain- and I think they are especially likely to feel pain when the reason they are called names is utterly beyond their control (actually being called names for reasons IN your control is unpleasant too- let's face it, namecalling is nasty, and that's why your mother punished you for it, if your mother was any kind of mother at all). If you are black, and people hate you because you are black, that is going to cause a normal person to experience pain. When people manifest hate with bigoted language I think that will obviously trigger pain. Can people TELL themselves "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter..." over and over again? Sure. But if you want them to not feel pain, and you think there is something wrong with them for feeling it, I think you are blaming the victim. I believe in free speech- and people have a right to be bigoted (not to the level of hate speech, imo, but that's a tough call- and I find hate speech to be drawn too broadly at the moment). However, speaking out about bigotry is the only weapon we have that accords with free speech. The bigots speak, and then people who do not like what the bigots say counter with their disapproval. What could be a better exchange of ideas in the marketplace of ideas?
