What do you think of Free Speach and would you fight for it???

Good question. I live in a country which professes to protect freedom of speech, but which has a history that compels us to limit certain types of speech. Germany’s democracy can tolerate many forms of free expression, but fascist and National Socialist platforms are disallowed. Membership in the National Socialist Party, sympathy for its ideas, support for its propaganda, and denial of the Holocaust, are either illegal or publicly frowned upon. Germany also bans material which contradicts its constitution or supports harmful ideologies. This might seem strange to people in countries where speech is unrestricted, but I might remind you that if Americans feel horror and paranoia about the spread of communist ideas, Germans feel the same way about fascist ones…a mentality justified, I think, by our history. I should also point out that some of these restrictions were imposed on Germany during the Allied occupation.

I would not take up arms in support of the idea of free speech. Such a notion presumes someone is threatening my rights and that physical violence is the only way to deal with that situation. I think history has shown one can stand up for rights without resorting to violence.