Is Hate Speech Free Speech?

The kids in my neighborhood remind me: Don't be a hater. I remind them: Be sweet, be kind. But do we occasionally cross the line between poking fun, satirizing, being sarcastic or ironic, into the realm of hating? sometimes we do it without noticing, other times we feel a dull regret after speaking or writing or sending that email or text about another person. How can we stop ourselves before we cross that line?

During the most recent general election in the U. S., I was bombarded by emails that I found to be exceptionally ugly, defaming, and in some cases dangerous hate speech. I took the time to respond to some of them. Others, I ignored. I am sure most of you have had similar experiences with email. I have been personally attacked by "friends" for having a different opinion. I have laughed and cried at the ignorance of intolerance. I have used the delete button more in the past year than ever before. But nothing tops what happened recently due to my response to an email.

A family member recently sent me an email forward. The title was: AND IT CAME TO PASS....the end of a great country. A pastor's wife's letter. It was sent to me without cleaning up the line break codes, nor was it sent to "undisclosed recipients". It was in fact, sent to the usual suspects: friends and family. The introduction attempted to give more credence to its importance and relevance by stating:

?This is written in apocalyptic literature.??It is being written by a>
pastor's wife, in biblical prose as a commentary of current events.??
>
?This is written in apocalyptic literature.??It is being written by a
>
pastor's wife, in biblical prose as a commentary of current events.??
> It
is extremely truthful.
>
> The year is 2009

Followed by yada yada I hate Obama, Obama is ruining our country, Obama has nothing but empty statements and promises etc. It became more hateful and more absurd by the line. Eventually the author called for us to vote out anyone who supports the President's plans and then some:

> And the people cried out, "Alas, alas!! What have we done?" ?But
>
yea verily, it was too late. The people set upon "The One" and spat
> upon
him and stoned him, and his name was dung. And the once mighty
> nation
was no more; and the once proud people were without sustenance
> or
shelter or hope. And the CHANGE "The One" had given them
> was as like
unto a poison that had destroyed
> them and like a whirlwind that consumed
all that they had built.
> And the people beat their chests in despair and
cried out in anguish,
> "Give us back our Nation and our Pride and our
Hope!!" ?But it was too
> late, and their HOMELAND was no
more.
>
> You may think this is a fairy tale, but it's not.
WAKE UP!!!
>
> It's happening RIGHT
NOW!!!
>
>
>
>
> DO PASS
IT ON, WE NEED TO STOP THIS NOW, OR FOREVER LIVE WITH ITS
> RESULTS,
BECAUSE WE DID NOTHING. VOTE OUT THE ONES THAT VOTE WITH
> OBAMA, FROM THE
TOP TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OFFICE THEY HOLD. THEN LETS
> BEGIN THE
"IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS" AND GET RID OF THIS "NUT CASE",
> THAT WAS VOTED
INTO THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, BEFORE IT TRULY IS
> TOO LATE!!!

I sent a response to the entire email list of recipients objecting to the content of the email on the grounds that it was hateful, deceptive and un-Christian. I heard back immediately from two of my fellow recipients, one who accused me of being un-Christian, judgemental and on and on, and one who said he agreed with me that the email was over the top. Then I heard from the original sender under the subject line of: FREEDOM OF SPEECH. I was surprised to learn that in her world, Freedom of Speech only applied to those who agreed with the post and agreed to send it on. If you disagreed, you should just delete it. And as she said: "on this we will have to agree to disagree". Further, my email response was to blame, according to her, for the break up of a family. "The [woman in the relationship], was out looking for her own apartment." After a few more email chastisements, from the original sender and others on the list, I decided to pick up the phone and talk it out.

That was a mistake. I was told that it was inappropriate to respond to the whole email list of friends and family. If I disagreed, I should only notify the sender. I explained that in some cases I would do that, but that in this case, it was a list of friends and family who regularly receive and forward this type of uber conservatism in the guise of patriotism and nationalism and that even hateful lies are protected free speech to be disseminated at will, and most of it goes unchallenged. These same recipients have regularly harvested my name from the email list and forwarded more and more of this type of stuff to me in the past. It was OK for them to do this since the message was always the same: you are not a patriot, you do not love our country, you are not a Christian if you disagree with what the sender says or forwards. And besides that, if you don't like it, hit delete and don't forward--thus proving you are an anti-American, tax the rich, commie, fascist, undocumented-immigrant-loving, satanist. I was further told that people who do not hold her similar values, were in effect, "spitting on the graves of the brave men and women who have given their lives in all the wars since WWII, who have protected our freedoms." Including the Freedom of Speech.

What do you do when you get an email that is either patently false or full of gross exaggeration or hate? Do you simply hit delete, or do you respond? Do you keep it between yourself and the sender or do you include others? What if you were in person in a group and one person was bullying, or telling lies or being a "hater"? Do you speak up public, while in that group or do you take the person aside and tell them how you feel? What are some of your experiences?