RenderBitcoin on Nostr: I spoke at length today with a close German friend of mine about this, and I was ...
I spoke at length today with a close German friend of mine about this, and I was shocked that he and the majority of Germany agree with their governments response to online opinions. While I share the sentiment that online hate is undesirable, I remain firm in my conviction that the liberty to profess and discuss, even the most controversial or distasteful ideas, is a fundamental right.
John Stuart Mill asserted, "We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still." Judgment is given to men that they might use it. I propose that the failing of men to exercise their own personal judgment makes way for government to step in and exercise judgment in whatever manner suits them, and in the process risk undermining the very foundations of personal judgment and intellectual freedom.
My friend's argument is that the German government's restrictions on speech are justified because of their past. I understand Germany’s fraught history, but imo these actions completely bypass the extension of forgiveness and reconciliation needed to unite. True reconciliation does not come from suppression, it comes by humbly asking for forgiveness and receiving it in freedom.
Should the guilt and shame of history grant governments unchecked authority to define the limits of "free" speech? Of course not. There has to be an exchange of that guilt and shame in order to progress. Isaiah 61 speaks of this exchange: "instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours." I want this for Germany. I long for peace both physically and digitally, but not at the cost of becoming the tyrant I oppose.
John Stuart Mill asserted, "We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still." Judgment is given to men that they might use it. I propose that the failing of men to exercise their own personal judgment makes way for government to step in and exercise judgment in whatever manner suits them, and in the process risk undermining the very foundations of personal judgment and intellectual freedom.
My friend's argument is that the German government's restrictions on speech are justified because of their past. I understand Germany’s fraught history, but imo these actions completely bypass the extension of forgiveness and reconciliation needed to unite. True reconciliation does not come from suppression, it comes by humbly asking for forgiveness and receiving it in freedom.
Should the guilt and shame of history grant governments unchecked authority to define the limits of "free" speech? Of course not. There has to be an exchange of that guilt and shame in order to progress. Isaiah 61 speaks of this exchange: "instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours." I want this for Germany. I long for peace both physically and digitally, but not at the cost of becoming the tyrant I oppose.
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