Should Holocaust Denial Be Illegal?

Holocaust denial is illegal in many 13 countries Austria, Belguim, the Czech Republic, Israel, France and Germany.

The European Union while not criminilizing it outright does have laws allowing member states to criminalize it with up to 1-3 years in prison.

My question is why? Yes Holocaust denial is horrible and crazy but it is free speech after all. When you silence someone's opinons and make them illegial just because said opinon is deplorable you prevent said person from having his beliefs challenged in a open discussion.

and not to mention 1-3 years for expressing a opinon is kind of insane. Holocaust denial isn't illegal in America it is justlooked down upon strongly. Isn't that enough?

The Holocaust happened and anyone who denies it is a idiot yet I belive in protecting speech no matter how horrible. I don't see how speech can be a crime.

It is ridiculous.

I thought, at least in the US, free speech was limited to things that do not cause disturbances. Like shouting "Fire!" in a public building where there is no fire, publicly denying the Holocaust will likely generate unrest and whatnot.

The Freedom of Speech afforded folks in the US would put a smack down on such laws ASAP. Thank goodness.

I also find those laws curious but I also recognize that each of those nations also have had their own and different experiences with such things compared to the US.

Whether the holocaust happened or not is fact; It did happen. Opinion =/= fact. I don't think telling lies is easily protected under free speech.

I thought, at least in the US, free speech was limited to things that do not cause disturbances. Like shouting "Fire!" in a public building where there is no fire, publicly denying the Holocaust will likely generate unrest and whatnot.

k_smoove

No it shouldn't. But you have to realise how these country's see the Holocaust and also the close link they have with it, mainly ones who participated/were a victim of it. For a lot of places the memories of it are still strong.

yeah sure, and they should implement thought police while their at it :?II_Seraphim_II

It shouldn't be illegal, because we then face the risk of the gov wanting to expand that to include other events in history from being disputed/denied.

No, as awful as it is, it shouldn't be. At least not in the U.S. I don't believe in the silencing of people's opinions. Maniacc1

You shouldn't really punish someone that harsh for their ignorance... :?

It is a horrible thing but I am a firm supporter of freedom of speech, besides, it's not like you can stop someone from having a belief and if they decide to run their mouth, it might offend people but I doubt anyone should be concerned that they will influence other people's opinions. The majority of the world will call them crazy so I just don't see the point in adding a frivolous law for the sake of condemning something that most people condemn anyway

Making it illegal would be unconstitutional.

[QUOTE="Maniacc1"]No, as awful as it is, it shouldn't be. At least not in the U.S. I don't believe in the silencing of people's opinions. munu9

Right, but people can still have an opinion that it didn't albeit stupid

[QUOTE="Maniacc1"]No, as awful as it is, it shouldn't be. At least not in the U.S. I don't believe in the silencing of people's opinions. munu9

[QUOTE="munu9"][QUOTE="Maniacc1"]No, as awful as it is, it shouldn't be. At least not in the U.S. I don't believe in the silencing of people's opinions. Lindsosaurus

Right, but people can still have an opinion that it didn't albeit stupid

No, as awful as it is, it shouldn't be. At least not in the U.S. I don't believe in the silencing of people's opinions. Maniacc1

ppl should be able to believe what they want

making Holocaust denial illegal would be just as ridiculous as holocaust denial itself.

Thats alittle outragesand it suppresses freedom of speech. The penalty of denying the holocaust is you looking like a giant unecudated idiot. thats enough for me

[QUOTE="Lindsosaurus"]

[QUOTE="munu9"] Whether the holocaust happened or not is NOT an opinion :| munu9

Right, but people can still have an opinion that it didn't albeit stupid

yes but people can choose to deny it regardless of how ridiculous it is...there are lots of ridiculous opinions that people have based on faulty or no logic. This opinion just happens to take the cake in that regard.

[QUOTE="Maniacc1"]No, as awful as it is, it shouldn't be. At least not in the U.S. I don't believe in the silencing of people's opinions. General_X

No but it should not be taught in schools.

[QUOTE="Maniacc1"]No, as awful as it is, it shouldn't be. At least not in the U.S. I don't believe in the silencing of people's opinions. General_X

in terms of B) then TONS of things should be illegal because this happens all too often. While the spread of ignorance is not a good thing, I dont know that you could legally call it criminal. Same principle with allowing the KKK to have their lil rallies and such, its horrible but it's their right. And I honestly doubt that those who deny it will have any kind of impact that would lead to this happening again as the majority of the world knows that it happened. It is hard to spread ignorance when facts fly in the face of everything they say.

as for A) I addressed this in previous posts

People argue that holocaust denying causes no immediate harm but it does cause harm in the long run. Denying one the biggest tragedies of human history is detrimental to how we'll handle things in the future.munu9

[QUOTE="Maniacc1"]No, as awful as it is, it shouldn't be. At least not in the U.S. I don't believe in the silencing of people's opinions. munu9

No. Germany and Austria have the terrible legacy of the Hitler regime, not the U.S. Let them come to their own conclusions on the subject.

[QUOTE="IndigoSunrise"] Even wrong opinons are still opinons. I might belive in Santa Claus or that Obama is a robot from the planet Mars but thats my opinionsupa_badman

Shouldn't be a crime. I think the discrimination they get for having that thought is good enough.

But I can see why Germany and Austria have criminalized it. Y'see, nationalists aren't exactly the brightest of people, so patriots of those countries can easily fall for holocaust denial. If over 50% of Germans/Austrians deny the holocaust they can remove it from their history books, amongst other dangerous things. So I can see why their governments took extensive measures.

There's a difference between a personal view and actual truth.

It definitely should not be illegal. Saying something, no matter how absurd or inflammatory, is a right everyone is entitled to.

An opinion is something that is without enough proof to produce complete certainty.

supa_badman

Call it a belief, whatever you want if you want to get technical...but I don't think that is worth focusing on, I think everyone in here gets how opinion is being used in this situation

Shouldn't be illegal. It just makes it look like they are trying to hide something, not really helping their case.

Shouldn't be a crime. I think the discrimination they get for having that thought is good enough.

But I can see why Germany and Austria have criminalized it. Y'see, nationalists aren't exactly the brightest of people, so patriots of those countries can easily fall for holocaust denial. If over 50% of Germans/Austrians deny the holocaust they can remove it from their history books, amongst other dangerous things. So I can see why their governments took extensive measures.