A recent submission here about the quality of Voat, and what it has become got me thinking about this quote. I am not any better than some of them I agree.
Black people (biting my tounge) have and will always be lesser in my mind, but I don't encourage violence nor have I ever.
It is all I see there now. Always a comment about killing off Jews or other races.
This is what freedom is to them, and that doesn't show an enlightenment or prospect for the future of the site.
Freedom is in no way related to enlightenment. You could absolutely be locked in a cage your entire life and still find enlightenment. The idea of freedom and where your freedom ends is based on the idea of enlightenment, however, because it is a matter of not harming other people. You are free to do whatever but when you harm someone, you are not acting from a place of enlightenment. It's not about race or IQ or culture. It's about realizing that you are not separate from that which you harm or help. By allowing a group of people to commit acts which harms others is itself an act of harm.
The Jains understood this. They are unarguably the most pacifist religion and group of people on the planet. Yet they recognize and honor military service. They know that to allow abuse and harm to occur is itself abuse and harm.
This is why I will debate but not argue. There is a distinct difference. Arguing gives power to the other person as arguing is nothing more than asking for permission to say that you are right. Arguing is always accompanied by anger or insults. To argue with someone is to perpetuate harm to another individual as anger, etc are emotions which cause physical stress and harm to the body. So when I bow out of an argument, it's not because I don't wish to discuss something or can't prove myself right or whatever. It is because I will not cause harm upon you (or anyone else) through a conversation which is ultimately non-productive and causes stress. I will debate. I will listen to viewpoints. But when someone goes on an "attack", the conversation is over. Period. I don't care if it makes someone else mad because I am no longer a part of that emotional response and I am not responsible for that reaction.