Isn't that the question we are asking on both sides of the issue? As a US citizen I could care less about the laws in France - it is the philosophical basis of the laws that concern me. This is the same logic used to ban bibles, porn and theories on JFK's death. I'd like to make 3 quick points:
1) How can I teach my children that a swastika is an evil symbol if I can't show them one? How do they know there was Nazi memorabilia? Did they go onto Yahoo's site and look for it? If so, not only did they break the law, they have done it for the very reason it needs to be done.
2) Who is really displaying this information? Is it not the user of the information in France? Legality aside, who is to blame that this information, is being displayed in France?
3) As a Jew, one who has been touched by WWII in more ways than I care to comment, I hate everything that the Nazis stood for. However, this was not the first time Jews were persecuted, nor will it be the last. If France really wanted to eradicate racism they would eliminate many of the racist clubs and "private parties" that exclude blacks and foreigners. I don't believe for one second that the majority of their legislature had the best intentions at heart. Their motives are not pure, and that is exactly why they cannot back down from their position. This makes it a difficult argument in France. But elsewhere, the same arguments can be used on both sides.
It is the desire of man to destroy himself that makes him fear what he does not know. Yet what he does not know is infinitely larger than what he does know. As he realizes that truth - that he does not know more than what he does know he becomes close minded in order to protect himself against what he is afraid of - what he does not know.
Slashdot Mirror
1) How can I teach my children that a swastika is an evil symbol if I can't show them one? How do they know there was Nazi memorabilia? Did they go onto Yahoo's site and look for it? If so, not only did they break the law, they have done it for the very reason it needs to be done.
2) Who is really displaying this information? Is it not the user of the information in France? Legality aside, who is to blame that this information, is being displayed in France?
3) As a Jew, one who has been touched by WWII in more ways than I care to comment, I hate everything that the Nazis stood for. However, this was not the first time Jews were persecuted, nor will it be the last. If France really wanted to eradicate racism they would eliminate many of the racist clubs and "private parties" that exclude blacks and foreigners. I don't believe for one second that the majority of their legislature had the best intentions at heart. Their motives are not pure, and that is exactly why they cannot back down from their position. This makes it a difficult argument in France. But elsewhere, the same arguments can be used on both sides.
It is the desire of man to destroy himself that makes him fear what he does not know. Yet what he does not know is infinitely larger than what he does know. As he realizes that truth - that he does not know more than what he does know he becomes close minded in order to protect himself against what he is afraid of - what he does not know.