FREE ESSAY ON NEO-NAZIS AND FREE SPEECH

NEO-NAZIS AND FREE SPEECH

Neo-Nazi's are entitled to the same First Amendment rights under the Constitution as all
other American citizens. Simply because a group expresses beliefs which are unpopular and
generally considered to be "wrong" does not mean that the group is no longer entitled to
free speech. When people are given true freedom of speech, it should be understood that
there are always going to be differences in opinions, and that the opinions held by some
people will almost invariably be seen as offensive to at least some other people. If the
government were to try and censor everything that anyone felt was offensive, then
eventually no one would be able to voice their opinion on anything anymore, and the
problem with censoring Neo-Nazis and other extreme racist groups is that it opens the
door to just this sort of thing. 
What's more, no one is being forced to listen to anything that the Neo-Nazi's have to
say, so the argument that they are causing people irreparable "mental anguish" is just
plain invalid because anyone who doesn't agree with what they have to say can just walk
away. The people who think that the Neo-Nazi's should be censored simply because their
ideas are hurtful to other people need to grow up and realize that words are just words.
Although words can be hurtful at times, if someone says something that people find
offensive, then they can just not listen, rather than crying to the government and asking
it to hold their hands and protect them from the world. Also, by trying to take legal
action to get Neo-Nazis censored, people are inadvertently helping the Neo-Nazi cause,
because many more people will get exposed to Neo-Nazi ideas through the press that this
generates than would be exposed if people decided to let them have their rallies and
ignore what they have to say. 
Also, although the Neo-Nazi philosophy may advocate violence and lead to an increased
number of hate crimes, this is not a reason to revoke their First Amendment rights
either. I believe that although most Neo-Nazis are uneducated racists, the truly violent
Neo-Nazis make up only a small extremist fringe within the overall group. Besides this
point, stopping the open public expression of Neo-Nazi ideas will not stop the crimes.
This is because the crimes are a result of Neo-Nazi ideas, and not a result of the fact
that these ideas can be openly expressed. The ideas will continue to exist even if the
public expression of them is banned, and because of this, the hate crimes will continue
to be an issue, even if Neo-Nazis are denied the right to publicly state their beliefs.
Also, if a Neo-Nazi rally becomes a riot because of spectators who heckle and harass the
Neo-Nazis, then the riot is just as much the fault of the spectators as it is the
Neo-Nazis, and if you were to censor the Neo-Nazis because of the riots, then you would
also have to censor the people with anti-Neo-Nazi beliefs as well. The people who say
that Neo-Nazis are evil, should be eradicated from our society, and do not deserve the
most basic of human rights are really no better than the Neo-Nazis themselves, but what
they say has never been called into question, simply because they represent the majority,
and their opinion is typically considered to be the correct one. 
Although other democratic countries have historically censored Neo-Nazi and other racist
ideologies and been successful while doing so does not make this action right, nor does
it make not censoring wrong. The United States of America was founded upon the ideals of
freedom from oppression, and equal freedom for everyone, regardless of who they are, or
what they believe in. While other countries have censored unpopular beliefs, this does
not mean that we should or are obligated to follow in their footsteps, and if we did
follow their example, we would be going against the very thing which this country was
founded to protect, namely, individual freedom. I think that it says more about the
strength of our country and our society if we are able to tolerate unpopular, extremist
beliefs without censoring them. 
Censorship has already gone to far in this country, from words which aren't allowed to be
said on television or radio (after all, words are just a collection of sounds which
represent an idea, and no one should have the right to say that certain ideas are not
allowed to be thought, or communicated), to the well intentioned, though somewhat
oppressive sexual harassment laws which have people being sued for complimenting their
coworkers (when this sort of thing starts happening, you know you have a problem...).
Censoring Neo-Nazi ideas would just be another step in the wrong direction, a step away
from a society where people are free to think, believe and say whatever they want to, and
it's really a sad thing when people aren't even free within the confines of their own
minds. If someone says something which you find offensive, then you are free to tell them
that you think they are wrong, and argue your point, or free to walk away. You do not,
however, have the right to say that simply because you don't agree with what they are
saying that they are not to be allowed to say it. Whenever you have a society where free
speech is permitted, there are going to be some people who ascribe to some very unpopular
beliefs, but these people are still entitled to the same freedoms as everyone else, and
for this reason, Neo-Nazis should not have their First Amendment rights revoked. 
Bibliography
None.