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So burning a flag is a hate crime? Let's start applying this equally.

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by old_tony, Jul 9, 2015.

  1. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

  2. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

  3. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

  4. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    Actually, neither should be a hate crime. There should be no such thing as "hate crimes." Penalizing thoughts is a very slippery slope.

    Penalize the action? Definitely. Penalize the thought? Welcome to 1939 Germany.
     
    Batman likes this.
  5. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Tony's correct. Who knows? The drunk kid with they gay uncle could love lesbians and was burning the flag and running onto their yard because he was chilly and thought the flag would offer some temporary relief and attract the attention of the women, who might have some flannel shirts to spare.

    Seriously, T. No matter what was going through his empy head, his actions were demonstrating hatred as much as burning a cross in their yard. Plus, he destroyed their property.

    So you can only really punish the thoughts by punishing the actions those thoughts must instigate.
     
  6. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    I actually agree with that to a certain extent (without the hyperbole) and it makes for interesting discussion.

    Does the motive really matter when it comes to murder? Deranged ex-boyfriend who murders woman deserves the same punishment as neo-Nazi skinhead who murders a black man while shouting the N-word.

    However, where it gets murky, is in the messages that can be sent to people through various crimes. For instance, burning a cross the lawn of a black family is meant to instill fear and terror in that family, and is certainly worse than randomly burning a garbage can outside of a convenience store. Without hate crime legislation, however, both would basically be a misdemeanor arson charge and probably a $100 fine on their face.

    However, I suspect, based on the initial post, this is not the discussion Old_Tony intends to have.
     
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2015
  7. Vombatus

    Vombatus Well-Known Member

    So, let me get this straight. Burning a flag is automatically identified as a hate crime, but 40 people of one race beating another isn't?

    This country pays too much attention to inanimate objects.
     
    old_tony likes this.
  8. Mr. Sunshine

    Mr. Sunshine Well-Known Member

    God Hates Flags
     
    YankeeFan, cjericho, HC and 8 others like this.
  9. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

  10. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member


    ?
     
  11. DeskMonkey1

    DeskMonkey1 Active Member

    i had a co-worker, a libertarian who was certainly more right than left, say hate crimes should be eliminated and instead the offender should be charged with terrorism. Because, like in the cross example, they culprit is trying to instill terror in not just that black family but blacks in general.

    While I generally dismiss the slippery slope argument as paranoia, I have seen things happen in society over the past 15-20 years that makes that possibility a little less remote.
     
  12. Spartan Squad

    Spartan Squad Well-Known Member

    He said you should have said bitterer then this instead of better than this.
     
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