The previous Post, Foot In Mouth Apologies, brings up the point that some people feel that what a person says when they are drunk reveals their true thoughts. Thoughts that our natural inhibitions usually prevent us from saying.
We live in an ultra conservative right wing semi-fascist society (ok, maybe somewhat overstated). And the powers that be (corporate and political) would love to regulate what we think. They would love to outlaw some thoughts and encourage others. Simply put, their goals are to dehumanize us.
A person should not be judged on what he thinks but rather on what he does. If Mel Gibson wants to hate Jews or if Michael Richards thinks Afro Americans are sub human, that's their business.
These people ran into problems not because of what they thought but because they verbalised those thoughts and people were offended.
Let's not even consider what we think for a moment. Let's consider what we say in our own homes. If our conversations and sarcastic quips made in our living rooms to our spouses, or even to ourselves, were made public we'd all be up for public condemnation.
A long time ago I worked for a man named Mario Deluca and yes he looked like the Mafia Dom that his name sounds like. I regularly had thoughts of slicing his throat open on a regular basis. I took special glee in fantasising on the brightness of the redness spurting from his artery.
If I had verbalised a thought like that I might have had a pretty stressful conversation with the RCMP. I think you get my point.
My concern is that our society is drifting to a point where our thoughts are being scrutenized and judged and punished.
Right now there are Hate Laws in most western societies. This bothers me. Why should hating be against the law? Isn't it a right to feel an emotion, whether it be jelousy, envy, lust or hate? Isn't that what makes us human beings?
If people want to destroy their own spirits through Hate, then I think thats their perogative.
Further to that, by outlawing Hate Groups, aren't we driving them underground where we can't keep an eye on them?
Our thoughts are our own and make us who we are. Others claiming jurisdiction over them reperesents the greatest threat to our society that I know of.
