for every action

there's a discussion over at the brooklyn vegan's blog re: free speech and that whole don imus thing. people are absolutists over free speech + they seem to think that having the freedom to do something means there should be no consequences. this would be nice, but it's not realistic. for example, if i were a politician running for office + i stated publicly that i'm an atheist, my political career would most likely be over. that doesn't mean i'm not free to declare my atheism, but it does mean that there are consequences for saying it. people are "free" to be racist and people are "free" to express disdain toward racist behaviors. i'm an atheist + there are some people who are openly intolerant of it; consequently, i keep my atheism to myself for the most part. there is, i would argue, a difference between being racist + an atheist, though: racism views one race as superior to others, to which there is only one logical conclusion (extermination or forcible removal of "inferior" peoples). there is no such logic in atheism-- it is simply a lack of theistic belief. sure, there are atheists who look down on theists, but that is simply a case of assholes coming in every stripe; there is no intrinsic hatred in atheism. there is an intrinsic hatred in racism, which is why it's justifiably viewed w/ derision + suspicion. are some people too sensitive when it comes to racism? it's arguable. is don imus racist? personally, i don't think so. i mean, i don't think he's any more racist than anyone else (i think we're all a little racist). should he have lost his job over what he said? i don't think so, but that's just my opinion. it was his employer's call + plenty of people have been fired for less (people, i might add, who actually need their jobs; imus is rich, he'll survive). they saw him as a liability + excised the problem. you have a right to say whatever you want, sure, but you're not immune to consequences. i'm free to call my girlfriend's mother a ghastly cow, but i'll be damned if i get off unscathed w/ that one. we're a culture of brats-- we wallow in freedoms other cultures only hear of, yet we clamor for more. we want to do whatever we want, whenever, and fuck anyone who dares say anything negative about it. unfortunately, reality does not offer us such luxuries.