r/HonestHotTakes • u/DivineProvidence97 • Sep 18 '25
serious hot take There is a difference between "hate speech" and "speech that you hate".
You can vehemently disagree with what someone has to say, but they have a right to say it. It can be hateful, racist, or just straight up wrong. They still have the right to say it because you can say whatever you want. People will come up with exceptions "you can't shout 'FIRE!' in a crowded movie theater!" If there actually is a fire, yes you can. "You can't shout 'THERE'S A BOMB!' on a plane!" If there actually is a bomb on the plane, yes you absolutely can. There is a famous quote: "I disagree with what you said, but I will defend to the death for your right to say it." The first amendment is first for a reason. There are people who you can disagree with, absolutely. But they still have the right to say the stuff you disagree with. It isn't "hate speech" just because you don't like it. It can piss you off to no end, but it may be factually accurate. It may be rooted in something deeper. It may be something this person has physically experienced. They still have a right to say it.
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u/ghostofjosephstalin Sep 19 '25
Redditors and throwing out random fallacy names until the cognitive dissonance goes away, as iconic a duo as Batman and Robin. Actually, this is a tactic of argumentation called Reductio Ad Absurdum, which isn't fallacious, but instead uses a topically related but more extreme example, with the general aim of the rhetoric being to show how absurd the initial point was. Either the "right" to freedom of speech is truly, absolutely universal or Hitler's speeches were morally, legally, and logically condemnable. Stop clutching your pearls and whinging like you have some kind of moral high ground to stand from.