Defending the freedom of religion, even for Muslims, does not mean you support Islamic customs that degrade women.
Defending the freedom of speech, even for Nazis, does not mean that you support anti-semitism.
Defending the freedom of association, even for homophobes, does not mean you support discriminating against gay customers.
Civil liberties protections don't exist to protect popular beliefs or popular people. They exist to protect minorities, even those minorities that most find repugnant and would like to destroy.
Why? Because you never know when _you_ will be that minority, the crowd screaming for your blood. Culture is fluid and the flow of power often shifts. You don't know when some aspect of your life will come to the attention of a censor, a bigot, or a scold.
“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression, for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.”
—Thomas Paine
Defending the freedom of speech, even for Nazis, does not mean that you support anti-semitism.
Defending the freedom of association, even for homophobes, does not mean you support discriminating against gay customers.
Civil liberties protections don't exist to protect popular beliefs or popular people. They exist to protect minorities, even those minorities that most find repugnant and would like to destroy.
Why? Because you never know when _you_ will be that minority, the crowd screaming for your blood. Culture is fluid and the flow of power often shifts. You don't know when some aspect of your life will come to the attention of a censor, a bigot, or a scold.
“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression, for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.”
—Thomas Paine