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Hitchens on Free Speech

Part 2 of 2: Christopher Hitchens testifies about freedom of speech

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15 Comments

Current View: 15 / Show all Comments

psychologyprofessor : LVL 31: VP 4: said:

psychologyprofessor

20 votes NegativePositive

80 days 19 hours ago...

A very brave and brilliant man.

boldfart : LVL 39: VP 4.7: said:

boldfart

5 votes NegativePositive

80 days 18 hours ago...

great speech, has anyone got the previous speaker`s speech to upload?

5/5

Tajumera : LVL 34: VP 4.2: said:

Tajumera

15 votes NegativePositive

80 days 15 hours ago...

Need more Hitchens videos!

rmatheso : LVL 22: VP 3.1: said:

rmatheso

4 votes NegativePositive

80 days 9 hours ago...

Great.

SpoogeP : LVL 22: VP 3.1: said:

SpoogeP

16 votes NegativePositive

80 days 8 hours ago...

So true. It`s depressing how far we haven`t come as a society, and it appears how quickly we are sinking back into the social quagmire that is religion. Lets face it folks, religion was, is and always will be a way of getting those people who can`t handle the concept of their own fleeting existence comfort, so that they`ll be good little workers and not cause trouble for those people who really have power in this world. :P Happy thought for the day.

Flynn_2006 : LVL 42: VP 5: said:

Flynn_2006

6 votes NegativePositive

80 days 4 hours ago...

Western government deserved a pie in the face.

maxmadx : LVL 11: VP 2: said:

maxmadx

4 votes NegativePositive

79 days ago...

hitchens, dawkins, harris- heroes of the 21st century.

Particularly hitchens, never compromises his integrity- even when faced with adversity like he spoke of.

rydl61106 : LVL 26: VP 3.5: said:

rydl61106

2 votes NegativePositive

77 days 11 hours ago...

Ya know he`s officially an American citizen now. I hope he does another round of lectures here soon. We need the help. Americas kind of lagging behind on the whole letting go of religion thing in comparison to the other western powers.

klavlav : LVL 38: VP 4.6: said:

klavlav

3 votes NegativePositive

77 days 10 hours ago...

^ Yes, it was an interesting step for him to take. I wonder if, despite the US`s fundamen-taliban factions, Hitchens identifies a strong secular potential in the US. If the US ever enjoys something like the Enlightenment that took place in Europe, perhaps rationalism could even blossom more in the States.

Makes me drool!

In any case, the world as a whole really needs to evolve and embrace the simple notion that censorship and prohibition - whether justified by religion, nationalism etc - have no place in a truly democratic, modern society.

edit for fatass below: It depends on the issue. Yes, you can be prosecuted in many places in Europe for denying the holocaust or displaying the swastika. But where things like art and pornography are concerned, Europe has a far better record (no fear of Janet Jackson-esque "wardrobe malfunctions". Our soap adverts are more risque!). There is also freer, wider representation for various political parties, from Communists, Socialists and Greens, to Christian Democrats and various nationalists (for better or for worse).

The First Amendment is great in principle. I think it has much farther to go in practise.

Khollest : LVL 40: VP 4.8: said:

Khollest

1 votes NegativePositive

77 days 10 hours ago...

Excellent post. It also spins back to a personal responsibility to each and EVERY person to allow unhindered free speech. Let that lunatic have his moment then have yours. Conversation, argument and persuasion is a two way street that needs no road blocks or toll stops.

Unfortunately, spin, omissions and editorial paint a picture very different from reality. As he said, very little is known from first hand experience. We rely on media, as bad as it is, for much of our information, leaving out those important bits. What I hate is watching a "news" station (I don`t have cable/aerial for this reason) where 1/4 is the news another 1/4 is the bias perspective and the last 1/2 is them telling you what to think.

Batman! : LVL 40: VP 4.8: said:

Batman!

3 votes NegativePositive

77 days 9 hours ago...

When he discusses his US citizenship he talks about the separation of church and state as one of his reasons.

This guy is seriously awesome. I love when he attacks religion and that was some scathing stuff.

There are a bunch of good debates and discussions with him on youtube. He always pwns.

fatass021 : LVL 1: VP 1: said:

fatass021

0 votes NegativePositive

77 days 8 hours ago...

While I do regret that the states has remained a more religious nation than our the rest of the western world, I think it is important to note that we have been generally much better on the free speech issue. As Hitchens noted in the video, one can be subject to significant fines and even imprisonment in countries such as France, Canada and Germany for voicing politically incorrect viewpoints. So though we may not be quite living up to the whole "separation of church and state" aspect, at least we are, for the most part, sticking up for the rest of the First Amendment.

imjac : LVL 30: VP 3.9: said:

imjac

3 votes NegativePositive

77 days 8 hours ago...

Hitchens is brilliant, however his views on American foreign affairs are quite unwise.

pony : LVL 33: VP 4.2: said:

pony

1 votes NegativePositive

77 days 8 hours ago...

at the end "stay cool"
5/5 for anything Hitchens!

Logan xxxx : LVL 4: VP 1.3: said:

Logan xxxx

-5 votes NegativePositive

77 days 7 hours ago...

This guy is a great thinker, and a great speaker. I love that many people agree with his anti-religion message. We should all keep in mind though, that this kind of thinking is not practical for everyone to adopt. We do need, (for now) the order that religion imposes on a society. We need it, so that we can maintain an educated elite, who can then sit in a room together and decide that religion is evil. The closer you look at the world, the wierder it gets.

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