A writer writes!
In the past few days there was a hate crime incident in Kansas. The perpetrator of the crime advocated hatred of Jews in past video and audio statements. He was also a member of an organization that was against various people based on their race or religious affiliation.
There are already Federal statutes against hate crimes. But, ironically it is not illegal to form and be an active member of an organization whose sole purpose is to espouse hatred of people due to their race, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation. Freedom of speech is the reason why such groups are allowed to form and express their "viewpoints". What benefit do these organizations of hate and intolerance bring to society? Does freedom of speech support and allow for hatred to exist? I don't think this was the intent of the freedom of speech doctrine.
Would it be wrong to outlaw the existence of hate groups? Especially those groups that advocate the extermination of people due to their race, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation. Is it so difficult to make a stand that organizations that solely exist to spread hatred and support violent acts against people will not be allowed to organize and exist?
Prior to violent actions individuals have thoughts and beliefs that fuel their follow up acts. Allowing people to organize into groups to fuel their hatred is like giving an arsonist a box of matches during a drought in a national park. A wild fire is bound to be the result.
Some would say, how would you weed out the freedom of speech groups versus the hate groups? My response would be, any organization that advocates extinction of people is not supporting those people peacefully coexisting in the world. If it looks like hate, sounds like hate, and the actions support hate, guess what? Is is pure hatred and evil.
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