Freedom of speech...surely is a lovely and great freedom to have, and this is something you often hear from someone who is being 'punished' for saying something inappropriate...that their 'free speech' right has been infringed upon.
One thing to remember (and one thing people do forget) is our freedoms are not absolute. That means people can't just do and say whatever they want when the want...there is a line where your freedoms end and another's begins. When one infringes on another's freedom than that person has given up their freedoms.
I don't know how it is in the other countries around the world, but in the States not all free speech is protected under the Constitution. Check it out, you will find that
slander (a malicious and false statement towards a person) and
libel (defamation of a person by written/printed words or pictures) are not protected by the Constitution, therefor 'freedom of speech' doesn't mean you can say whatever the heck you want. (And I think the rules of this forum much like the Constitution...if you are a member of this forum you follow the 'rules.' If you have a problem with the rules, or feel you were punished unjustly you talk to the mods/admins to get everything 'ironed out.')
There is a huge difference between a great and passionate debate and slandering/insulting someone who disagrees with you. There have been many superb debates in this forum over the years that I've been here, most of them remain in good-spirit, because as
Davem said we all get to know eachother. I haven't met anyone here, but I've been here for 3 years now and through discussion I've gotten to know many of the members and know that no one means any harm in what they are posting. I know people disagree with me all the time (though it would be so much easier for everyone to just agree with me
), I know they are still 'good' people (at least I hope
)
Now, there are a few occasions when debates do get more passionate and we are humans, so we all make mistakes and say some things we don't really mean. I've been guilty of this several times, and it's not my intent to offend someone, so if I feel like I had then I'll PM the member and we'll get everything hatched out and come to an understanding. (Or a mod will come in and say 'stop it'
). It's similar to the teaching profession...the best way to protect yourself as a teacher is to talk to the parents and show them that you mean no harm to their kids...if you get the respect of the parents they won't be on your back all the time as they know you mean best for their kid. If the parent does not know you as a teacher nor as a person, they are more likely to side with their kid and jump down your throat when the kid goes home to complain about Mr. Emmons. The best way to protect yourself on a forum is being kind, courteous, and knowing that no one means any harm when they are posting their opinion. This keeps a good debate going, but leaves out all the pointless and 'unconstitutional' slander.