i like being able to do whatever i want without interference as long as what i'm doing doesn't hurt anyone else. if you think i should not be allowed to do things that don't hurt others, then you're one hell of an asshole.

as for ABe, the only thing that bothers me, really, is that it sounds to me like he's saying 'we have freedom of expression in order to let people learn the difference between good and bad by exposing them to things that most people find evil' when he should be phrasing it more like 'the fact that we can let people learn the difference between good and bad by exposing them to things that most people find evil is just one of many good reasons to support freedom of expression.' it's kind of like he mentions freedom of expression as an afterthought. but freedom of expression isn't just this neat little thing we happen to have that we made up in order to guarantee that people will be exposed to evil things so they can learn on their own; freedom of expression is an important right because it guarantees that what you think is wonderful can't be branded as 'evil' by the majority and used to throw you behind bars for the rest of your miserable minority existence.

so to give you the reason why such freedoms are important, it's like this: freedom of expression is important because it protects people from abuse simply for not being mainstream. there are limits, of course -- i can't incite people to murder dr. x because that'd infringe on dr. x's rights -- but the idea that somebody can throw me in jail just because they think the pictures i took of my naked children playing in the yard in the sunlight on a summer day are child porn sends shivers up my spine. if you don't want to protect my right to do something as benign as that, then what the hell DO you think is worth protecting?

i think americans don't need a reason to defend stuff like freedom of expression because they've had the luxury of growing up in an environment that makes one almost take such freedoms for granted. the reason to protect those rights is to prevent oppression (NOT 'to let people learn the difference between good and evil as they bumble along their lives,' although that's a fine enough secondary reason) but an answer like that is so obvious to most americans that they don't even feel the need to mention it.