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Germany banned a sequence of three words that had been used in a Nazi anthem:German court upholds ban on words with Nazi linkWhat is your take on the larger issue? Is it wise/good to put restrictions on free speech and words that have political associations, even if the intent behind the restrictions is good?
The Germans are very sensitive about anything to do with Nazism, fo good reason I think. I dont know that I agree with their restrictions on speech but I can understand them.That being said, is this any different than the restrictions placed on speech in the US despite the First Amendment? I actually think the Germans take a much more common sense approach to restricting speech than some of the fanaticism displayed in America. This is especially true when it comes to people expressing their religious opinions in America. How many times have Americans been restricted from expressing their religious beliefs in the name of freedom?
That's a good point, but isn't there some similar restriction on religious speech done by government entities in Germany? I believe there is in England and in other European countries. For example, could a school receiving public funding in Germany arrange for student prayers to be said as part of the school day?
There is a crucifix in every classroom in Bavaria for certain that I am aware of and that has been upheld by the German supreme court after a Muslim protested. My son receives religious education in school from the parish priest, the Lutheran kids get classes from the Lutheran pastor. All others are required to take an ethics class. I dont know about school prayer, I know the priest speaks at the graduation ceremony every year.
Interesting. I did not know that. I suppose you are right that the way Germany does it is more sensible than the way America does it.
Of course, Nazi words and symbols are banned but in my view that is perfectly understandable given Germany's history. They also tend to ban more extreme speech on both left and right. From my experience Germany will tolerate most speech, just not the most extreme. The spiritual successor to the Nazi party still exists in Germany they have just been forced to moderate their expressed opinions. They are the NDP National Demokratic Partei and it is probably the farthest right party in Germany, they have never met the 5% threshold to get into the Bundestag that I am aware of although they have managed to elect members to state Landesrats and gotten a few mayor seats mostly in the east.There are also some extreme left wing parties that get banned from time to time although Die Linke which is farthest left skirts the edge of what is allowed.In the elections for EU parliament last month their were 32 parties on the German ballot. and 5 of them made the cut to get into the EU parliament. imagine that happening in the states.
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