The Catholic Church teaches us to imitate Jesus Christ rather than blaming or condemning others, saying things like: “Let him who is without sin cast a stone” or “It’s my fault.” However, during the National Assembly elections, there were cases where the candidates' words exceeded what we consider to be the minimum moral standards. Some of these candidates withdrew from their candidacy, but others ignored such criticism and ran for election and some were elected.
In our society, not only hatred of women but also hatred of various minority groups such as the disabled, elderly, and immigrants are often justified. Their remarks become popular through social media and personal broadcasting channels and sometimes bring fame and wealth. Celebrities who treated women as sexual objects or made disparaging remarks about various family members on TV entertainment programs were criticized and even had their appearances suspended for a while. However, since there is no strong basis for punishing hate speech, their hate speech is forgotten.
Because personal broadcasting channels are relatively free from censorship in the name of freedom of expression, they pursue fun, provocative, and violent things. Hate speech that deeply hurts some people has been overlooked. However, in this election, the candidates’ hate speech came back like a boomerang. Even in this case, some candidates did not sincerely apologize, complained that they were maltreated without knowing what they had done, or glossed over the fact that they had made a mistake. Voters watching them were wondering whether they should vote.
Nevertheless, this situation is not all hopeless. This is because hate speech can be a starting point for criticizing hate speech and demanding sensitivity to discrimination against others, not only for the speaker but for society as a whole.
The belief in refraining from any language or policies that contain prejudice or discrimination against minorities is called 'political correctness'. Some people believe this political correctness suppresses free speech and discussion and hinders the development of democracy. However, even if political correctness limits the freedom of expression and behavior of not only oneself but also others, political correctness is still necessary and important when considering the suffering of those who are harmed by hate speech or actions.
There is a need to strengthen consultation, deliberation, education, and legal sanctions beyond individual reflection regarding hate speech in areas such as media, schools, and politics. Each political party must enhance sensitivity to hate through gender awareness education and sexual violence prevention education, and exclude people who make hate speech in the party membership criteria.
In her book "Hate Speech", American feminist philosopher Judith Butler says that simply silencing hate speech speakers does not eliminate hate in society. This is because the group that made the utterance possible was also created with the support of society. Butler emphasizes that hate can disappear and society can change when society recognizes the problems of hate by apologizing to those who have suffered due to hate and healing their wounds.
From this perspective, hate speech found in politics or the media is not solely the fault of those who attracted attention and became stars through hate speech. Those who supported and cheered their hate speech and those who remained silent about it cannot be free from responsibility. To develop sensitivity to hate speech in our society, it is necessary to pay attention to and recognize the suffering of others.
There is a need to be sensitive to whether hate speech is inadvertently used in Catholic Mass sermons or catechesis. Within church organizations, gender equality education, such as gender awareness education and sexual violence prevention education, should be provided and the church should play a role in criticizing and monitoring hate speech in society.
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