Belief

[isindra]

It's a cross post, of sorts.
It's that I've been thinking about how awesome it is that debate is built in to our political system.
In theory, it's a part of most political systems, and the real impact of it on ours can be debated...
but isn't that just the thing?

Comments

[expanding_x_man]

I think the checks and balances are awesome. And, the first amendment.

Recently, a friend of mine who lived in Canada told me that a friend of hers had their house broken into by the police and was arrested in the middle of the night for "hate speech". Something she was alleged to have written on her computer. They took her computer and her - didn't give the machine back for six months. She was cleared or had the charges dropped (I forget which) but getting the computer back was hell. And, of course, they put the burden of proving (innocence) on the person accused in hate speech trials, completely different from criminal trials in Canada. I was just stunned.

They have "freedom of expression" there but it stops far short of the protections given by our first amendment. They have Section 13 which is the code about "hate speech". Many are trying to overturn it. Of course, this type of thing happens in Europe also - so, we are pretty unique.