Two interesting pieces of news this week. One from Berlin and the other from New York, and both have caused wide debates on freedom of speech and how far these bannings can go.

In Berlin, there are attempts by their interior minister to ban the usage of the name Jihad after a Turkish Muslim caused a public debate when he called his son Jihad.

Berlin’s City Police Department argues that naming the boy Jihad goes against the child’s interest. The district council originally argued that a name “associated with terrorism” could “endanger the child’s well-being.”

In New York, on the other hand, there is an attempt to ban the “n-word” in an attempt to take it out of the mainstream and especially the rap and hip hop scene.

The resolution, which never actually names the term, referring to it only as “the ‘N’ word,” passed with unanimous support on Wednesday, the last day of Black History Month.

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I obviously disagree with both plans to ban words.

The New York ‘n-word’ ban is not a legally binding law, but its a suggestion. Personally, I don’t like the word and would be happy to see it stopped being used in the mainstream, but again, banning it would be just stupid!!

Banning an offensive word will just open the door for more bans on other phrases and words!

For the name Jihad, it is very stupid of them to try and ban a name that has been around for thousands of years and has very historic and cultural significance! The fact that the word has been misused or has had a bad conotation in the past 5 or 6 years doesn’t make it right to ban it based on that, especially in a place like Berlin, which is known for being very liberal and open-minded!

On the other hand, someone living in the west should have the sensibilty not to use that name in the current situation! The guy who called his kid Jihad is obviously a publicity seeker, he spoke on TV previously approving of the Sept 11th attacks and the Bali attacks, and Jihad is his 6th son! The guy is an ass but putting a law banning the name is just ridiculous!