Philosophy Now Forum

what is your opinion of what is going on here in such cases

what will happen to a girl whose hymen gets damaged because of gymnastics or bicycle riding in your community?

if you are on the wrong end of a tyranny you will not care whether its tyranny of the minority or the majority



in a democracy - real one - everyone will vote for whatever measures are best for all

as as long as the majority genuinely is interested in what is best for all, and there is no superior navigational expertise among the minority, might as well go with the majority

but if the majority votes to go to a place that will treat the majority well but kill the minority then there is no democracy in place

That's true . But if we are talking about real democracy and a new state of law , then the police is responsible for protecting any groups or crowds protest for any goal or any message .


Whatever , you know something if you get inside my head , I have two nightmares , economy and sectarian strife . My dreams for Egypt is the stability and development .

I read your happiness and hope the new President's words become

“What we speak becomes the house we live in.”
― Hafez

Thank you , and I wish nobody gets annoyed of anything I say , if we talk it's much better than silence for me , so we can understand each others . What does hafez mean by the way ?

It's too complicated to give you an answer , this is what we grew up with , girls have to keep themselves for their husband and boys should treat girls respectfully under the cover of morals and values and if a guy doesn't want to feel shame in case his sister does fornication , then he has to adheres to these morals and values as well in his relationship with girls in work , college and everywhere .

Hi Khalid,

I am glad for you. You sound very excited. But I must warn you....funny thing about freedom...it is a double edge sword...because the only way to freedom is to allow your fellow man to be free as well...and that means looking away at certain behaviors that you would not do personally. It is a very very big pill to swallow...even for those who have had these rights all of their lives.

Anyway, there is a movie that I love called "The American President" Have you ever seen it? Well, at the end the president gives this beautiful speech. Part of it goes...

"You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free".

I hope you understand what I am saying...I wish you well. But this is not something that will give you everything you want. It is something that will give your enemy everything he wants as well. This is why freedom isn't easy.

Hafez

Khwāja Shamsu d-Dīn Muhammad Hāfez-e Shīrāzī (Persian: خواجه شمس‌الدین محمد حافظ شیرازی‎), known by his pen name Hāfez (1325/1326–1389/1390), was a Persian lyric poet

His life and poems have been the subject of much analysis, commentary and interpretation, influencing post-fourteenth century Persian writing more than any other author. Themes of his ghazals are the beloved, faith, and exposing hypocrisy.

Nobody is going to be killed anyway , if we wish to talk practically and actually , atheists nobody can force them to change their path or force them convert to a religion , if we talk about gays , practically it's easy to find any hidden place or rent a motel room . One of my friend's brother is a gay , he receives big humiliation and indignity from people around (like many other countries in the world) but he never got hurt by anyone .

Thanks artisticsolution , the words "Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil," are very deep and touching .I support freedom of speech and expressing your thoughts But do you think freedom of speech should be ultimate , I mean should it acceptable to insult something considered holly or very great to specific people ?

That's nice , I should have a look on his works as I like poems . So you are from Iran ?

I am glad you liked it. And yes, I do think freedom of speech should mean it is acceptable to insult something considered holy because an insult bring no real harm..."it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my legs". Let the punishment be social boycott or some other non physical action. If we punish by law any free speech, then we have made the punishment worse than the crime....we have blown it out of proportion. And then there is no freedom for anyone...because any little thought that is uttered becomes a serious crime in the eyes of the insulted.

Suppose a group came into power that you did not agree with....wouldn't you want to freedom to verbalize your displeasure? If you want it...then you also have to allow others to have it or it will never work for you or anyone else. Simply because whoever gets into power will tell you how you must behave too and you will be silenced. Freedom is a double edged sword.

Now if someone wants to throw insults in the form of sticks and stones...that is a different thing altogether. This is actually doing physical harm. This should be punishable by law so that all men (and women) can enjoy the freedom from tyranny.

But just because I believe in free speech...doesn't mean that I think that anyone at anytime can just let it all out. I believe there is a place and a time. Obviously, obscenities should not be said in a preschool...but neither should religion be brought up in a pre school. How would you like it if the teacher started to teach your child Christianity, or Judaism, or whatever religion you did not agree with? Again...there is a time and a place for such things...and for all people. I also believe that people should not be able to lie from a position of authority...but that is more difficult to control as people have a way of spinning lies so that they become the truth. Quite literally...it ain't a lie if you believe it....right?

I hope you can see the logic. Freedom is not as easy as it sounds.

No, Khalid, I am an Australian. A very good friend of mine is a writer and poet. He devoted a few years of his life to translate the poems of Hafiz and has some books published about it. Some of the poems are truly beautiful. At one stage the Iranian government had talks with him about the possibility of making a film on Hafiz's life. Here is a link


http://www.hafizonlove.com/bio/index.htm

I think you've somewhat missed the point.

It never fails to amaze. Kahlid is clearly in possession of a good brain, if we are to assume that he is bilingual; his English is not too bad.
What is remarkable is what patriotism and religion can do to the reasoning mind. Faith seems to turn the reasoning ability to mush.