(I’m third-generation American of German descent– even in America, my Germanic last-name has inspired numerous sly quips about Nazism during my lifetime, so I can imagine the unearned blame that actual Germans born well after WW2 are forced to endure. I certainly don’t hold individuals culpable for the sins of their forefathers or countrymen or anyone other than themselves–)

However this whole discussion down here, just made me roll my eyes.. Freedom of speech, freedom of speech. Such big words! You think someone can just say something like that in Germany? Well literally they can, but ever thought how many people would be hurt and offended by things like that?
I rather have Polizei handling those people, and the man not be able to say offensive things like that.

If a country is willing, as whole, to give cede a bit on this particular civil liberty in exchange for personal safety, then what do you care? As I said, Munich is one of the safest cities in the world, and there’s a reason. Do you live here? No. Do you have ANY idea of the day to day climate and what the people are like? So please, just stop talking before you sound any sillier.

Your opinion is formed based on info you’ve read, and it’s faulty because you are applying American law and politics to a country that does not follow them.

Regardless, once YOU mentioned the term Nazi in reference to your opinion about censorship in Germany, I could see where this discussion was going. Feel free to embed further the stereotype that the term “German” is equivalent to “Nazi”. You wouldn’t be the first, and as you’re so adamantly saying, it’s YOUR RIGHT AS AN AMERICAN TO SAY AS MUCH. Either way, I’m done fighting ignorance like this from someone who sound incredibly young and full of theory rather than life experience.

Censorship is censorship, regardless of how unsympathetic the ‘hate speech’ is. The American Civil Liberties Union defends the rights of Nazis and the KKK not out of sympathy for their ideas, but because the ACLU recognizes that the principle of free speech is too important to be tampered with– no matter how reasonable the intent.

It is a VERY different experience to live here and see first-hand what daily life is like than to read about a country from a book or the internet (or God forbid, Yahoo news) and form a conclusion. Not saying this is what you’re doing, but it’s what most folks do. There’s what facts say, and then there’s the reality of BEING here…verrrry different.

As for the douche in the post, he’s free to say whatever he wants about anything…but the fact that he was talking so loudly about it is what would cause people to call the Polizei. They wouldn’t want their business to be associated with such extremists. In fact, other people in the restaurant would probably have told him to STFU. It may seem extreme to Americans, but there’s a reason Munich is one of the safest cities in the world. It goes both ways, you see.

BTW, Freedom of speech in the US exists, but people forget the bit about “without slander or libel”. It doesn’t mean you can just mouth off about anything with impunity. Most folks can’t seem to grasp that little caveat.

Sure, asshole anti-semites are offensive, but not nearly as offensive as a government with the power to censor its citizens!