CMV: No topic should be off limits to joke about or debate, regardless of how badly it may trigger someone.

So if I went to your wedding and got on a table and started calling you and your partner deformed pieces of shit...would that be fine with you? So if I was a cashier and loudly talking at the counter about my sex life and my boss asked me not to...would that be alright? So if I was harassing a person and calling them to talk about what I wanted to do to them... that's fine? So like...if I was your partner and I said, sweetheart, it hurts my feelings, and I really don't think it's fair or appropriate of you to talk about it...you should just do whatever you want?

If you cause a scene at a wedding you would likely be asked to leave. If you refused, you would be committing trespass and would probably face legal consequences for that, but you wouldn't necessarily be prosecuted for your speech. If you enter into an employment contract during which you are expected to behave in a particular way, then so long as you were in breach of your employment contract by behaving in an inappropriate way, it would be appropriate for you to be fired. So long as your "harassment" of a person did not constitute assault or incitement to violence against them, then your speech would be fine. If we were in a relationship and you asked me not to talk about a certain thing, then I would have the choice to continue to talk about that thing, or not.

It's plainly ridiculous that people never face criticism or reprecussions for their statements. It's obvious that some venues are inappropriate. It's not just that this speech is harmful, it's that it's not particularly ideologically, creatively, legally important-and if it is it's something that can be said in a different venue.

Unless someone faces legal consequences for their speech, I don't think consequences really matter. Criticism is fine - it's an expression of speech itself anyway.

/r/changemyview Thread Parent