(no subject)

[catslash]

Holy shit, a guy in Austria is gonna spend three years in prison for denying the Holocaust.

You know, I'm all for giving those assholes a good clout upside the head, but damn. *clings to First Amendment* Going to JAIL for asserting a completely delusional opinion that no one cares about except your fellow delusionoids seems kinda harsh to me.

And then there are the times when I actually am glad to live in the US. It's like Voltaire said, y'all. "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Except I'm paraphrasing, and also Voltaire was French, but you get my meaning.

Comments

[caruso.livejournal.com]

all of that is fucked up. the holocaust deniers and the fact he's going to jail. then again, this is austria. they might have different rules concerning denying the holocaust, free speech, et al. i think it's tough because we here in the US operate on the freedom of speech principle when i'm not sure that it applies worldwide.

[ravensgurl211.livejournal.com]

*nods* I saw that. But what freaked me out was the fact that he wrote books, LMAO. I'm going to ask my history teacher about this guy tomorrow, becuase my teacher is pretty smart when it comes to reading books and everything because I'd like to know a) if it's been translated to English b) what kind of sources he'd use for his books and speeches. Or if it's just anti-semitic "rawr, stop talking about all the dead jews, focus on something else!" rantings. Because sometimes I'm interested in how real crazies think, lol.

[owllover711.livejournal.com]

I know laws of that nature may seem insane to us and I certainly wouldn't like that sort of law in America. However, there is a real problem in Austria regarding such matters as Holocaust denial, and failure to come to grips with the Nazi era.

When I was in high school I went to Austria for a choral competition and, while in Vienna, our choir, on the way to someplace, walked past the Austrian equivalent of a JCC.

There was a guard dog the size of a lioness outside, along with a guard (who looked like an Army officer) with a machine gun. I have a picture somewhere. And there were hardly any people on the street. This was 16 YEARS ago, and apparently it's only got worse since then.

Anyway, just trying to explain the origins of laws like that, not agreeing with them.

[hoedogg.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my aunt is German and she says they take that shit VERY seriously over there.