America: And we allow such behavior to continue…
What is great about America? Many things, particularly in this discussion, America allows you the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion. No matter if you’re Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindi or Satanic, we allow you the opportunity to express yourselves, within the boundaries of “non-violent” protest, by gathering, discussions, open-air-time on t.v. and radio, the printed press, etc. We give authorization through government permits to have cultural and religious gatherings on public property as long as you abide by the same set of rules, which is, to allow everyone the opportunity to view your message, without regard to their religious beliefs. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. There are no double standards.
We allow “Arab Days”, “Cinco De Mayo”, “Ramadan”, “Christmas”, “Chanukah”, “Kwanzaa”, etc. etc.
In fact, “allow” shouldn’t even be used because we accept these holidays without issue, without really thinking about it. It just “is”.
During these holidays, festivals, gatherings, etc. everyone is allowed the opportunity to express their beliefs in a manner befitting a rational and educated society that abides by a set of laws that protects the citizens from violence. You’re allowed to say your peace. However, if you’re in public and someone has a video camera, they’re allowed, by law to video tape everything they see. No matter if you’ve signed a waiver or not, no matter if they’re also recording audio. You’re in public, you have no “right to privacy” when you do something in the public eye.
What’s my point?
This is totally wrong! The police should have stepped in and taken control of this situation and protected the videographer’s rights to shoot their video without being harassed by these “security guards”. The only things these thugs were “securing” was the hidden agenda of the folks orchestrating this event.
/CF