Lies, Opinions, and Hate Speech.

 The first Amendment in our bill of rights is: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Short, sweet, and mostly missing the rhetoric quoted and paraphrased about the first amendment--our right to say anything, our right to write anything, etc.

As you can see, it is entirely directed at congress regarding making laws that declare establishing a state religion, or talking about any religion, or stopping the press from writing---about religion?--it gets vague but a press that can not write about human rights, politics, religion, or any other event that is going on at the time becomes a puppet press, a state news propaganda machine.  It also gives the people the right to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

So, the people of my neighborhood can get together (assemble) and discuss the gunfire at night, every night, and decide to start a petition in which people are not allowed to shoot guns at night.  

Of course, this is where the other amendments get called in.

The second amendment is:  “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

So, the people have a right to keep and bear arms.  It says nothing about when they have a right to shoot them.  And don't get me started on the whole well-regulated militia---that is generally seen as the state's National guard units and the Governor of each state is their commander in chief.  

The supreme court originally said that the state's militia were the only ones with a right to bear arms.  It was 1925 when the Supreme Court decided that individuals had that right.  I'm thinking that citizens, whether or not they have committed a crime in the past, if they are not currently paying for a felony, also have a right to bear arms.  There are several groups whose rights to bear arms have been ignored.  They get shot if they even look like they might be bearing arms.

But this is about #1.

Most of us have always believed that we not only have a right to our opinion, but also a right to express our opinion.  

slander (noun) · slanders (plural noun)

1. the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.  Compare with libel.

   "he is suing the TV network for slander"

   • a false and malicious spoken statement.
     "I've had just about all I can stomach of your slanders"
     synonyms:

     defamation · defamation of character · character assassination · misrepresentation of character · calumny · libel · scandalmongering · malicious gossip · muckraking · smear campaigning · disparagement · denigration · derogation · aspersions · vilification · traducement · obloquy · backbiting · scurrility · lie · slur · smear · untruth · false accusation · false report · insult · slight · mudslinging · bad-mouthing · contumely
     antonyms:

     acclamation · praise

VERB

slander (verb) · slanders (third person present) · slandered (past tense) · slandered (past participle) · slandering (present participle)

1. make false and damaging statements about (someone).

   "they were accused of slandering the head of state"

   synonyms:

   defame · defame someone's character · blacken someone's name · give someone a bad name · tell lies about · speak ill/evil of · drag through the mud/mire · throw/sling/fling mud at · sully someone's reputation · libel · smear · run a smear campaign against · cast aspersions on · spread scandal about · besmirch · tarnish · taint · misrepresent · malign · traduce · vilify · calumniate · disparage · denigrate · decry · run down · slur · do a hatchet job on · derogate · asperse · vilipend

Above is a hint.

And the law will side with the person committing the slander unless the person suing them can prove it is untrue.

A proven untruth is a LIE.

So, freedom of speech does not cover lying about someone.

Lies are not free speech.  

We have all heard that screaming "fire" in a crowded theater is not free speech because it endangers lives, but did you know that lying about someone is also not protected free speech?

Which leads us to hate speech.  

Hate speech is almost always the repetition of stereotype, derogatory names and inflammatory claims about a group of people.  The goal is to make the speaker feel superior and to marginalize the group being spoken about.  

It's slander, not because no one in the group matches the stereotype, but because everyone in the group doesn't match the stereotype.  It is also aimed at the stirring up hate/violence, so the goal is to endanger the groups' members lives, either through direct violence or decreased opportunity.

Hate speech is not free speech.

If you have an opinion about a whole group of people, you might want to take some classes, antiracism classes, black history classes, women's studies, they have cultural studies at universities on about every group you can name.  

Or, if you are not the scholarly type---talk to some people from the group you have been hating.  Talk to some people from your group that don't hate the group you have been hating.  

Quit only talking to people that share your hate.

Time to grow up.