Right To Free Speech = Right To Free Action = Freedom To Do Anything, as in Anything?

"Personally, when it comes to rights, I think one of two things is true. I think either we have unlimited rights, or we have no rights at all. Personally I lean towards unlimited rights, I feel for instance I have the right to do anything I please, BUT! If I do something you don’t like I think you have the right to kill me."George Carlin

This is the same as Pope Francis saying:

"...anyone who swears at (my) mother deserves a punch." AKA 'If you do something you like such as swearing at my mother, I can do something I like such as punching you in the face.'

Notice how both ideas start with doing what "I WANT" or "I LIKE" - which technically is what freedom is all about, or is it? 

Imagine you belong to a large family - e.g. 19 Kids and Counting.

If this is too scary for you, let's dial the thought down a bit. Imagine instead, you belong to the Pitt-Jolie family.

Looks and sounds better, huh.

The point is, you belong to a large family and you have siblings whose personalities are as varied as the worldwide flavors of Coke. It's essentially the same Coke, but in different cans with different food additives.

All the kids come from the same DNA but for some reason, they don't think the same, they don't feel the same, they don't all believe the same shit.

Let's say one kid believes in the power of Lion King, another kid thinks he's an Avenger, one kid thinks nothing can be better than Frozen's Elsa. But one of them believes you shouldn't mess with Han Solo, specifically his Han Solo action figure. If you do, he'll kill you - or in kid speak - he'll kill you. Being the natural kid that you are, you mess with his Han Solo.

Also, you're the kid who likes messing other kids - for (good and/or bad) fun.

Your parents think teasing, joking isn't anymore joking/teasing if you're the only one having fun. So they tell you to stop.

You don't.

You continue messing with Simba - you feed your sibling's stuffed Simba toy to the dog.
You mess with the Avengers by using the comic books as a coloring book.
You mess with Han Solo by freezing the action figure in ice.

Everyone didn't find what you did funny.

Simba-loving-kid cried and went to mommy.
Avengers-loving-kid forbade you from ever stepping into his room, ever.

Han-Solo-loving-kid hates you. He hates you from the depth of his being. You insulting Han Solo is equal to you insulting him too so he threatens to behead you if you do it again.

So you do it again, because you can. This time, you put Han Solo's love interest Princess Leia in the fridge too.

What does Han-Solo-loving-kid do?

He does what he told you he'll do. But thanks to mommy and daddy, Han-Solo-kid is stopped from killing you. But mommy & daddy has had enough and tells you to STOP too.

Just stop, they say. Don't you understand?, they ask. Han-Solo kid has poor impulse control, they say. He's doing his best they say. But we can only do what we can do, they add. You have to do your part too. Stop pushing his buttons and leave him be, they say. He has to work it out on his own, they say. Stop forcing/making him understand that what you're doing is funny, he doesn't get it - yet. He has to work it out on his own, and you can't do that for him, they say. If you insist to make him understand,  if you insist that he should laugh too, you're doing the same thing he's doing too.

You're forcing your humor on him the same way he's forcing his belief on you.

Both of you can't and won't understand each other if you're bullying each other and insisting your wants upon each other.

It's just an action figure, you answer back. He should stop taking it seriously. He's sick! Why are  you talking to me for? Talk to him too! He'll kill anyone who disagrees with him, even you!

Your daddy shows his missing pinkie and responds, `He almost already did. He cut my pinkie when I told him to lighten up.'

Now what?

What would you do?

You can continue making fun of Han-Solo and face the consequences - which you have already been warned will happen.

Or

You can stop.

Or you can maybe ask WHY you want to do what you want.

If you don't want to be beheaded but you make fun of Han Solo anyway, you shouldn't have made fun of Han Solo.

If you are ready to be beheaded so you courageously make fun of Han Solo, who could say you did the wrong thing? You knew the consequences and were ready to face it. You made a decision that is right for you.

Beheading is NOT right nor is bullying someone to get them to do what you want. But taunting a bully isn't wise now is it? He won't get your joke because he's been blinded by his love for Han Solo, and no amount of anything will make him change his mind.

But, you can try. You can die trying if that's what you want. But remember that you can die - if that's okay with you.

You're free to do anything. Besides you, everyone else is free to do anything. Spiderman said 'With freedom comes responsibility.' The problem is, everyone thinks they're doing the responsible thing.

Making fun of Han Solo is fun if everybody else thinks the same way.

Those who take Han Solo seriously should lighten up. "Should" is a form of control too.

Killing someone who taunted Han Solo is overt control to the nth degree. Yet both are still  trying to control another's reaction. Both think one should not act/be a certain way. Stalemate.

Thus the deadly riots.

One is insistently persisting he is doing the right thing and the other is too.

Both are doing what  they want.  Not what the other wants.

And so it's a perpetual cycle of self-pleasing.

Forcing your idea on someone is sick. It's controlling.

Everyone SHOULD let each other be, if they want to.

Should? Hey, I'm controlling too!

What to do?

The Monty Python team had had the good sense not to lampoon the Islamists. "We didn't go for the Muslims, did we?" (Terry Gilliam) said, a little self-deprecatingly. "We were smart." 

Happy New (Day of the) Year

Ever notice how we spend the new year, every new year?

We are happy within the 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 60 seconds, 2 seconds leading up to the new year that that we express our happiness by lighting fireworks,

eating tons of food,

hugging, clapping, jumping, kissing

and essentially bingeing on ecstasy the minute the "New Year" starts - with the ecstasy slowly tapering off the second or two after.

We are happy five minutes before the start of the new DAY of the Year and the 3-5 seconds after. Not the entire year.

After the first 5 minutes of the new year, it's over.

The new year is over.

You: "What do you mean the new year's over? It's still the new year now!"

No.

This year is like every other year now. The new year's done, it has passed. We're waiting for the new year next year. That's the new year!

We don't really like the new year. We just want the idea of the new year. Those 3-5 minutes of the new day of the year coming, that's where the action is. The whole year is -- ehhh. It's a year. It will basically be any other year.  But the 60 seconds before and after  the new year, that's where our money is.

Our wishes, dreams, hopes are all condensed in the first few seconds on that new day of the year.

It's like most orgasms. If you've ever had one, it's where - for a second - you let yourself go, you suddenly have a glimpse of `heaven', everything will be alright, you feel no one and nothing can touch you and then, just like an orgasm, the good feeling ends as fast as it begins.

We don't value the year. What we value is the first minutes before and the seconds after the new day of the year starts. The rest of the year we essentially live like its any other.  

The seconds of the new day of the year ticks away until it becomes a minute, two minutes, five, 30 and then an hour and 24 hours. And then it's the second day of the new year. Then we wake up and live like it's any other day - until the next new year.

Happy New Day of the Year! After the first day of the year & after all that hugging, smiling & kissing,  I bet we'll all be back saying 'Fuck you' to each other again.