Seriously, I\u2019m really getting tired of people griping about how their FREEDOM OF SPEECH is being violated because people don\u2019t like what they\u2019re saying and say as much. Look, you are perfectly free to call a gay person a pervert. Really! But that does not<\/em> mean I can\u2019t call you out for that, or that I have to be buddy buddy with you, or that I have to endorse your hate. Heck no. And you know what? You are perfectly free to call a woman you don\u2019t like a c***. Really! But if you do that, be ready for some serious<\/em> backlash, because believe it or not, being hateful and sexist has consequences.<\/p>\n The weird thing is that this is one area where what I read about evangelicals and the Christian Right coincides with what I read in certain parts of the atheist blogosphere. Yes, just like Dan Cathy of Chick-fil-A thought he should be able to oppose marriage equality without facing consequences, because, you know, freedom of speech<\/em>, there are also atheists out there who appear to think they should be able to use sexist slurs without facing consequences, because, you know, freedom of speech<\/em>.<\/p>\n Freedom of speech means that the government<\/em> does not censor speech<\/em>. It doesn\u2019t mean that when you say hateful things everyone around you is required to nod and smile. I mean really, the Westboro Baptists say terrible horrible things, but the government doesn\u2019t stop them, because they have freedom of speech. Essentially everyone in this country abhors them, and many people speak out against their hate. And you know what? That does not<\/em> violate their freedom of speech! Free speech does not mean being able to say anything you want to without being labeled a bigot.<\/p>\n Freedom of speech =\/= speech free from consequences.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t that complicated. Really<\/em>.<\/p>\n Oh, and people making comment policies, or banning people from commenting on their blogs? That doesn\u2019t violate anyone\u2019s freedom of speech either, because it\u2019s not the government<\/em> that is making those rules. It\u2019s people making decisions about their own blogs. Believe it or not, no one has the right<\/em> to comment on other people\u2019s blogs. The same is true of conferences and work places. An independent entity making rules for running things on its own turf is not<\/em> a violation of a person\u2019s freedom of speech.<\/p>\n So you are perfectly free to call gay people perverts or women c***s. But don\u2019t think your freedom of speech means you can do that without people condemning you for it, or without people choosing not to associate with you because of it, or, well, without consequences<\/em>. Because it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Seriously, I’m really getting tired of people griping about how their FREEDOM OF SPEECH is being violated because people, um, don’t like what they’re saying and say as much. That’s not how freedom of speech works. Freedom of speech means that the government<\/i> doesn’t censor speech, not that when someone says hateful things everyone else is required to smile and nod.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,40],"tags":[110,114],"class_list":["post-12929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atheism","category-evangelicalism-fundamentalism","tag-lgbtq","tag-sexism"],"yoast_head":"\n