Defending Scoundrels

There's a favorite H.L.Mencken quote of mine on fighting for freedom. What do you think? Is it accurate?

"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

and that's why the Right wing makes such political hay out of groups like the ACLU, trial attorneys, etc.

lot of assholes, like the Nazis in Skokie, because across the board principles like free speech apply to everyone.

A lot of people would define Larry Flynt as a "scoundrel". While I may not agree with everything the man has put in his magazines, I also don't think there's anything wrong with publishing or looking at pictures of people naked or having sex. I don't. I think starting wars, polluting rivers and streams, even telling other consenting adults what they can and can't read or watch is far more "scoundrelous" behavior.

Also, a lot of the people who are held up -by some- as moral paragons also look pretty fuckin' scoundrel-y to many of us. The Pope was instrumental in the Vatican's institutional covering up and protecting pedophiles for many years- behavior that I think ought to have the man brought up on international criminal and racketeering charges. Mother Teresa was an anti-birth control zealot, in countries where overpopulation is directly tied to poverty and misery.

It goes on and on.

I do not really dislike you Bryant, just fyi. I just think sometimes you set yourself up and I don't understand why you do that.

This is a good poll, imo and one that can start some intelligent conversations.
Lee

You didn't state any opinions on that other poll. It just didn't make sense...to me. I promise I will give you more chance and not jump so soon. You just seem to react so strongly without ever really answering things yourself.

...and you make definitive statements that are hyperbole at best. Like saying that picking on Mormons is OK here. Actually, it's right in the rules that picking on religion is not OK. The problem with that kind of rule is with the rule itself, not with you or me or anyone else BECAUSE as long as religious topics are posted outside the religious forums, we atheists feel we should be able to comment without getting a rule thrown in our faces.

If people don't want us to insult and deride religion then the topics should ONLY be in the proper forum. As long as they are in GD, it wouldn't be fair to say, "everyone can speak on this except those who disagree, or are pagans or atheists or..." IF religious topics are going to be placed in GD, the rules are not fair. I would NEVER go into the religion forum and place my anti-religious beliefs but to me, for the topics to be placed in GD then it's just religion being shoved down our throats again as is the case in this country. We get religion shoved down our throats ALL the time. We have a theocrat in the White House. So we come to DU and aren't allowed to post against religion? Not how is that fair? If you want to post pro-religious stuff without it being insulted by ME, don't post it in GD.

Lee