The argument presented in the link is not necessarily true. As a behavior becomes more socially accepted, criticism of it becomes less so.
A parallel can be found in abortion protesting. It used to be widespread and fairly common, then it became less popular after a few protests turned violent. Then the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act was passed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Access_to_Clinic_Entrances_Act), and it's now illegal to protest within a certain radius (100 feet?) of an abortion clinic, no matter how peacefully you do it.
A similar change happened during the presidential primaries, protestors were confined to "free-speech" zones, typically enclosed cages with barbed wire or concrete walls. Protests were allowed in the cages and forbidden elsewhere in the convention cities until the primaries were over.
I can't go along with any "The government will never take away your freedom to do X!" arguments as long as the government is ever-increasing in power.
I didn't read this one as "the government will never take away your freedom to do X" - I read it as "if Fred Phelps is still doing his thing, your freedom probably hasn't been taken away yet".
(And, yeah, not at all fond of 'free-speech zones'. And while I think some anti-abortion protesting went past 'expression' and into physical intimidation, I'm not at all convinced that the FoAtCEA is an improvement on the problem it was meant to fix.)
no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 11:31 am (UTC)A parallel can be found in abortion protesting. It used to be widespread and fairly common, then it became less popular after a few protests turned violent. Then the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act was passed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Access_to_Clinic_Entrances_Act), and it's now illegal to protest within a certain radius (100 feet?) of an abortion clinic, no matter how peacefully you do it.
A similar change happened during the presidential primaries, protestors were confined to "free-speech" zones, typically enclosed cages with barbed wire or concrete walls. Protests were allowed in the cages and forbidden elsewhere in the convention cities until the primaries were over.
I can't go along with any "The government will never take away your freedom to do X!" arguments as long as the government is ever-increasing in power.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 12:53 pm (UTC)(And, yeah, not at all fond of 'free-speech zones'. And while I think some anti-abortion protesting went past 'expression' and into physical intimidation, I'm not at all convinced that the FoAtCEA is an improvement on the problem it was meant to fix.)