Sticks and stones

Words are powerful. Rhetoric is powerful. Dialog is powerful. Take words, speak them allowed to someone or write them to someone and suddenly you are engaged in a struggle than can result in both parties becoming weaker or stronger.

Is "homophobe" as dangerously paralyzing a word as "homo?" I read a speech recently that addressed a similar issue. Basically, it made the very good point that in the dark ages, the term "heretic" could stop all discussion, debate and learning.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson points out in his book, Death by Black Hole, that the Catholic church attacked, condemned, and even killed many of the greatest astronomers and thinkers of humanity because they held opinions and ascribed to theories that were unpopular minority views.

The age old debate about how open minded is a liberal person if they refuse to listen to a skin head or neo-nazi thug is reborn. Does calling someone a "homophobe" in the atmosphere of a University for instance automatically silence a student or reduce them to the 21st cetury equivalent of a heretic, ignored by the majority and judged unworthy of participating in public debate, dialog, learning?

i'm the last person who would defend the viewpoint of a neo-nazi, but i will defend the right of anyone to espose an opinion, majority condoned or otherwise.

To quote the ultra liberal Michael Douglas in the American President:

"You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours."

Can you do it? How patriotic are you? How open-minded are you?