Friday, June 05, 2009
The law has no place in scientific disputes
Please consider signing the petition in support of Simon Singh. The British Chiropractic Association seems to try to silence their critics instead of defending he BCAs practices, and they should not get away with it.
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5 comments:
One clarification, please? Is there place for interference in my national self-declaration?
The case of Simon Singh concerns freedom of speech - should one be allowed to ask questions about "medical" or quasi-medical practices? Here, freedom of speech is important.
In the same manner, of course, you have the freedom of speech and should be allowed to "self-declare" as much as you want.
Freedom of speech also includes the freedom not to speak, however. So when I choose not to use any name at all, it is well within my freedom of speech, and should be respected without "interference"... :-)
So? How do you say that my nationality is?
According to your country it is Macedonian http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/02/01/10/innvbef_en/arkiv/tab-2007-05-24-05-en.html . According to Wikipedia it is Macedonian, too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonians_(ethnic_group).
Most important - it is how we self-declare ourselves.
So? What are we?
Don't get me wrong - your denial of my nationality is such a terrible breach of my human rights so I cannot explain to myself how a person from a country with an excellent record in human rights can even make such claims.
Check your references is freedom of speech when you deny someone's right to nationality. Is freedom of speech for you to declare someone other's nationality?
Double standards, double standards..
First of all: it is simply ridiculous to claim that, in this world of suffering, not using certain words is "a terrible breach of your human rights".
Secondly: I have not made a "claim" denying your nationality. I have just said that for the time being I will try to stay out of the "name issue". Not taking part in a debate is not the same as siding with your opponents.
Thirdly, the nationality of individuals is different from the name of a country. Some countries have people of many nationalities, while some nationalities are spread on many countries. So while I have not used "Macedonia" for the country, I would have no problem using "Macedonian" describing nationalities. But there are Macedonians in other countries as well.
The Norwegian government's position on this topic is that the people are called "makedoner/makedonar" in Norwegian, and that the country is referred to as "Den tidligere jugoslaviske republikk(en) Makedonia".
But most importantly: please note that I have NOT "declared someone other's nationality". (Which nationality do you think I have declared for you?)
Thank you. That's what I am saying all the time...
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