You are not entitled to your opinion

[ciphergoth]

• You Are Never Entitled to Your Opinion
  
• Sorry, but you are not entitled to your opinion
  
• Why You Are Not Entitled To Your Opinion

You are, I think, entitled to the right to hold and express any opinion without being shut down by the State for doing so; that is where the entitlement ends.

[Poll #1410915]
(edit: removed Harlan Ellison quote, which doesn't really express what I'm getting at here)

Comments

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

"I definitely do think people do have a right to whatever belief they want and I think that can be worth affirming sometimes."

Please read the second linked article. If this right exists, what duty does it impose on whom?

[wight1984.livejournal.com]

I don't think I agree that rights necessarily entail duties. The article states it as a fact but doesn't produce any reasoning why it should be so.

In some cases it is clearly so. A person can't have a right to medical care without there being someone obliged to provide it. However, in the case of the right to an opinion there's no need for anyone to support or uphold that right.

The only major thing that would seem to need to be avoided is criminalising certain opinions.

[wildeabandon.livejournal.com]

It's a bit meaningless though. "I have a right to do something that no-one could stop me from doing anyway." Who cares?

And if people can stop you, then having the right imposes a duty on them not to, surely?

[wight1984.livejournal.com]

Well, I wouldn't say meaningless but, in the strictest sense, it is rather moot, yes. It's not very easy to try to force someone to change their mind except under rather extreme conditions.

But the whole 'freedom of belief' thing tends to come hand in hand with freedom of expression (of those beliefs), which is much more important and seems to come down to mostly the same thing.

A state that recognises freedom of belief (and free expression thereof) is one that (hopefully) won't make certain viewpoints and ideologies illegal.

Doesn't matter much in regards to individuals interacting mind as the sorts of thing a person could to do to stop a person freely expressing themselves are likely illegal for other reasons anyway. :o)