So what is wrong with thought crime

As the new and wonderfuly entertaining thread about "if you were a terrorist how would you attack" makes its way into the trash bin I am curious about peoples fears about thought crime... Seeing as how many such topics littler the web and any idea could really be found anywhere Totse, rense, here you know online...what is the harm in idea disscussion.

Why do we fear thought crime?

Did the terrorists already win?...Sad to say but if we are too scared to speak about something then I guess they won.

[edit on 12-8-2007 by titorite]

Originally posted by titorite
Why do we fear thought crime?

I guess people tend to fear the way thought sometimes leads to action. There's no statistical evidence to suggest that a majority of thoughts lead to some kind of related action, but when the thought is of something socially negative, then people become more sensitive to the possibility. It's funny, because the world is filled with churches and temples packed with people praying for peace, and that doesn't seem to result in peace. Likewise, there's no reason to expect that a few people talking about violence will actually cause violence to happen.

We humans like to think our thoughts have more weight than they actually do.

[edit on 12-8-2007 by SuicideVirus]

The whole "the terrorists are going to win" is probably the worst phrase to ever come into being.

We humans like to think our thoughts have more weight than they actually do.

Well said..I think that is my answer. Sometimes a communicated thought can seem so heavy so impacting that the one seeing the thought feels a need to shut that thought down.

Personaly I fear no thought. I wish everyone shared that opinion.

Well, thought crime is punishing someone that is simply expressing an opinion on a topic.
For example, the penal codes dealing with holocaust denial are a great example of a thought crime penalty being enforced.
It is ridiculous and in m opinion it should be abolished.

Originally posted by Kr0n0s
Well, thought crime is punishing someone that is simply expressing an opinion on a topic.
For example, the penal codes dealing with holocaust denial are a great example of a thought crime penalty being enforced.
It is ridiculous and in m opinion it should be abolished.

In many parts of the United States, if you beat somebody up you'll be thrown in jail for a certain amount of time, which is fair and just. But if during the beating you happen to yell something at the person recognized as derrogatory about their sexual preference or ethnic background, then the beating becomes a "hate crime," and you end up getting a lot more jail time. So, in essence, you're getting additional punishment for the reason you beat the other person up. That is, the thought behind the act.

Is that fair and just? Doesn't matter. It's the law.

Perhaps open discussion on "how would you commit a terrorist attack" is benificial. If people throw out a good 10 or 20 possibilities, then they'll stay in the back of our minds, making us more cautious. In order to beat the enemy you gotta think like the enemy, right?

But it is absurd and sad. Humans are becoming more and more cowardly.

Rev_Godslapper,

I agree that in order to beat the enemy, you have to think like the enemy, however, how do we know we're not giving them ideas at the same time?

alerts such as 'terrorists can poison the water supply' and things such as that nature, could be giving ideas.

I know for 9/11 my first thought was about the movie Executive Decision which I believe came out in 1995. Could be a 'coincidence' or something more.

Originally posted by titorite
As the new and wonderfuly entertaining thread about "if you were a terrorist how would you attack" makes its way into the trash bin

Why was the thread trashed?

allow me to quote the terms and conditions of this site:

2e.) Illegal Activity: Discussion of illegal activities; specifically mind-altering drugs, computer hacking, criminal hate, sexual relations with minors, and stock scams are strictly forbidden.

discussing how you would commit terror, how you would handle a terrorist etc are all questions that are asking our members to post how they would, possibly, commit a crime.

committing an act of terror is illegal. anyone that posts how they would do so is in violation of the T&C.

Anyone posting how they would hurt, harm, punish, torture etc a terrorist is also violating the T&C.

there's really not much to discuss on that end.

Now, titorite, is clearly bothered by his two threads being shut down for the above referenced infraction. So, he wants to discuss the merits of thought crimes being punishable. They aren't, so long as they remain thought crimes in your thoughts and not posts on these forums. If you want to discuss how you commit a crime, I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands, of forums that will happily let you discuss how you would break the law.

You should note that there are rumors that the US gov't has the ability to scour the internet looking for clues to upcoming terror acts and you posts might trigger alarms in their system and I doubt if any of you want to deal with a secret service agent or some other gov't spook coming over to discuss your ways to attack some city.

Originally posted by titorite
Why do we fear thought crime?

You actually raise an interesting question, at the core, it's the reason why blood is not running in the streets at this very moment.

People are afraid of thought crime, because most people are frightened in general, plain and simple.

This is also the very reason why the "plan" will continue un-abated, because most people are too afraid to even speak up, let alone (gasp) act.



[edit on 13-8-2007 by phoenixhasrisin]

Originally posted by Crakeur
They aren't, so long as they remain thought crimes in your thoughts and not posts on these forums.

I put it down to an isolated outbreak of Foot-in-Mouth disease...there's a lot of it about here in the UK at the moment

We would be safer by "forgetting how to wage war" but then when we die and go our way, how will we know it will not be born again? The best thing to do is teach people how to chose what fills their hearts and minds correctly. The will must be there, and such a thing only comes from true choice, free will. We must learn to will for the greater good. Then things that "shock" us will be as everything else, we will be seeing more, all.

It all depends on the surrounding circumstances in which you express your thoughts. If you are just talking with friends you know to be law abiding and you say, "I bet someone could blow up the city if...." you are not doing any harm. If you happen to be talking to someone who is not law abiding and could see a statement like "I bet someone could blow up the city if..." as advice, at which point you have just given advice to a criminal. As far as the law is concerned, if you give advice to someone you know to be a criminal and you knew or should have known they would use that advice to commit a crime, you could be liable for : aiding and abetting, criminal recklessness, and tortious negligence.