None so blind as those who will not see
Dec. 21st, 2006 10:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
debgeislerMy first reaction on reading this story at the BBC online was: Send him to Iran.
As a First Amendment-ista, I find myself quite conflicted about this case. Tossing someone in prison because they wrote something you don't like just really peeves me. But defending everyone's rights equally often means that we defend those we despise.
That doesn't mean I have to like their opinion. But there's that line, so frequently misattributed to Voltaire or Jefferson:
(Nonetheless, I still have the same hair-triggered rage when hearing Holocaust deniers...rage I control. Barely.)
British historian David Irving is being expelled from Austria and returning to the UK after his early release from prison for denying the Holocaust.Granted, Irving claims that his views of the Holocaust have changed. And granted, throwing him in jail was probably someone's bright idea of how to make the controversial law an international cause celebre.
He has been banned from returning to Austria and will be escorted to Vienna's airport by police.
As a First Amendment-ista, I find myself quite conflicted about this case. Tossing someone in prison because they wrote something you don't like just really peeves me. But defending everyone's rights equally often means that we defend those we despise.
That doesn't mean I have to like their opinion. But there's that line, so frequently misattributed to Voltaire or Jefferson:
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.If it's not a liberty for all, it's not a liberty.
(Nonetheless, I still have the same hair-triggered rage when hearing Holocaust deniers...rage I control. Barely.)