The Case of the Mysterious Disapearing Thread, Part Deux — Page 5

GeorgeandDot said: "Just thought I pop by and say that under no circumstances should the swastika be protected as free speech since the party for which it represents is responsible for the death of 6 million people as well as nearly 10 million soldiers, civilians, etc. It should be considered a call for violence. People should not be able to openly fly that flag."

This is a conclusion that I'm coming around to. Before a Nazi/white supremacist murdered a woman with a car this past August, a lot of this was theoretical for me. In my lifetime, this wasn't really an issue. But seeing the reality of this? Look...it's not like the atrocities that happened under the Reich were incidental. The slaughter of millions wasn't an unfortunate byproduct of other policies. It was the point. So...violence is inherent to the symbol. In Germany, it is illegal to display a swastika. Can we argue that Germany is not really 'free'? I don't know. I know how I would have felt about a banning of such iconography before the murder of Heather Heyer. But now? I...just don't know.

^I agree 100%

Show me a large population of African-American Southerners who proudly fly the Confederate flag in a show of regional pride, and perhaps I will reconsider lumping it in with the swastika.

jimmycurry01 said: "This isn't Dave's first screen name here. He was formerly dave19, and that name had to be deserted due to racist comments. He is just that type of person."

This is the most world alienated comment I have read in a while. I specifically kept my name, but made a post to let everyone know I just changed the number because I don't want people to think I'm 19. I deliberately kept the name Dave, because I fight for what's right and I wanted to let people know I'm still the same person, fighting against racism. I'm just that type of person.

Now go back to your fairy tale.

Updated On: 9/13/17 at 02:26 PM

Miles2Go2 said: "For the record: I'm anti-racism, anti-ageism, and pro-iPhone X. Lol. And I try to be cognizant of my white privilege."

Isn't being pro-iPhone X an example of white privilege?!

VintageSnarker said: "Hey, I was open to start discussing opera and off-Broadway but as usually happens lately, that got stomped over by this same debate."

Would those occur in separate threads on those shows/topics? Would seem a bit of a strange turn in here...

haterobics said: "VintageSnarker said: "Hey, I was open to start discussing opera and off-Broadway but as usually happens lately, that got stomped over by this same debate."

Would those occur in separate threads on those shows/topics? Would seem a bit of a strange turn in here..."

Like another racism debate isn't a weird turn on a thread that got deleted because it was about age? I was replying to someone who complained we never talk about anything but frivolous stuff anymore.

"Acknowledging my own ambivalence, I don't think people should be punished solely for displaying these symbols. I'm with the ACLU and the Supreme Court on this issue."

At this point in time, the swastika and the Confederate flag are inextricably linked to calls for genocide and other human violent atrocity. Displaying a swastika publicly is essentially the same as displaying a sign that says "exterminate the Jews," and displaying a Confederate flag is equivalent to putting up a sign that says "Blacks should be slaves." There is undeniably nothing positive about the display of either symbol at this time, and display of these symbols is incitement to violence.

Perhaps in a few hundred years, when human awareness of the Civil War and World War II is as foggy as today's awareness of the Peloponnesian Wars, those symbols will be merely decorative and stripped of meaning. But that day certainly hasn't arrived.

newintown said: At this point in time, the swastika and the Confederate flag are inextricably linked to calls for genocide and other human violent atrocity. Displaying a swastika publicly is essentially the same as displaying a sign that says "exterminate theJews," and displaying a Confederate flag is equivalent to putting up a sign that says "Blacks should be slaves." There isundeniablynothing positive about the display of either symbol at this time, and display of these symbols is incitement to violence."

I don't disagree with you regarding the plain meaning of those symbols. However, absent any ability to carry through on these threats, I also wouldn't advocate legal punishments for anyone uttering those sentences, either. Although I'm not an expert, I think existing case law would also make it difficult to punish people who said those things.

The fact is, I've said things that, in less free countries, would get me in a lot of trouble. (Some of them have been on this site.) I can't advocate any increase in government regulation of speech or expression.

My post about FARINELLI's excessive advertising g campaign is now gone.

1. This thread is a mess.

2. BroadwayWorld moderation is a mess. They take down random threads in their entirety, but don't even bother to merge or streamline the thousand threads about a given show, or all the stage door/ticket advice questions? This board is impossible to navigate, and then once you find what you're looking for, it gets taken down.

3. Saying "I don't see race" is a problem. There's a lot that needs to change in America.

4. Saying that we should appeal to universal humanism rather than to tribalistic identity politics - and I'm not sure if that's exactly the case Dave2828's making, and if so he hasn't done so eloquently, but it's my view - is not denying anyone's "humanity."

5. This generation of progressives' cavalier attitude toward free speech is astonishing. Sure, reasonable people can agree the swastika and Confederate flag are symbols of hate (although the Confederate flag, like it or not - and I'm among the nots - is also tied up in a lot of other mythology for many Southerners). The problem with outlawing speech on purely moral grounds is that the next moron in charge - or more likely, the current hateful, demagogic moron in charge - then has license and precedent to outlaw OUR speech as immoral and offensive.