Censorship and “hate speech” has been the focus of attention of the blogosphere lately, with the usual suspects leading the charge, with Warren Kinsella on the left, and Small Dead Animals on the right. The latest conflagration is over Human Rights tribunals, and their role in trying to stamp-out hate speech. Specifically Ezra Levant, who is widely acknowledged as an idiot, is the subject of these tribunals. Odd how a single person can be used as the foundation for both sides of an argument about hypocrisy…
Anyways, I’ve been watching this back-and-forth for some time. I read a discussion today on America’s Debate which got me thinking (in the shower, where 75% if my blog posts originate.) Are tribunals censorship? Yes. Do they infringe in our rights? Yes. Are they necessary? Absolutely. Racism comes in many shapes and sizes; and the aforementioned discussion on America’s Debate reminded me of the David Rosenzweig murder in 2002. This crime occurred less than 3 kilometres from my home.
Unfortunately I’ve not been able to find any followup coverage of this crime; but to summarize and expand on the article above, Christopher McBride, an otherwise useless meatbag wandered into a Kosher pizzaria and was hassled by the locals; not because the locals were Jews, but because they were Jews and Christopher was a visible skinhead. Christopher went home, found a knife, returned to the site, and proceeded to stab the first Jewish man he came across; killing him. Now, Mr. McBride may have been a scumbag and a skinhead, but until he stabbed David Rosenzweig he was nothing more than a young punk. However, when confronted by a group of Jews, something switched and he transitioned from an asshole to a violent killer.
Racism takes on different forms and finds different outlets. For the Jewish community the above reaction is the one that is most feared. While other groups may face a constant barrage of daily racism, for Jews there is a constant anxiety; we are generally accepted and even embraced; but we are NEVER more than one crisis from ending back in the camps. I don’t mean to say that Jews are always under threat; just that we are a quick and easy target for hate, and the worm can turn very quickly.
And this brings us to the moral of this story; we need Tribunals for one simple reason: once ignited hatred moves much faster than the legal system. It took a few hours for Christian McBride to turn from a juvenile delinquent to a murderer. Hatred may be irrational but it is endlessly predictable; those who preach it will always find an audience in the desperate and angry, and if it is preached enough, people will die.
Loading ...
