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

[simple-epiphany.livejournal.com]

Even though it is true, I don't think it should be encouraged, because it is so often understood as saying more than it actually does.

Specifically, even if you are entitled to an opinion, you are neither entitled to have that opinion taken seriously, nor to express it on someone else's time/money/space. While the phrase itself isn't actually false, it encourages woolly thinking on this subject.

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Exactly - I chose the wording of the poll question quite carefully.

Though actually I'm not sure it really means anything very precise; I can think of several different interpretations of what it might be supposed to mean, and that alone is reason enough to discourage people from saying it.