I've come to this page completely by accident, and so it's somewhere between possible and probable that I've similarly completely misunderstood (or am completely ignorant of) its purpose.
Please have no doubt of my urge to have a discussion with this man, nor of my frustration with the people like this who make it so hard for theists like myself to be held with anything more than disbelief, ridicule, or contempt within both the scientific and liberal communities to which I belong.
However, many of the comments regarding this quote disturb me.
"It's called freedom of speech. If you don't like it, got to Nazi Germany."
"Get the fuck out of my country, you slimy douchebag."
"Get out of my country, now."
"Hey, man, go back to Oceania and leave the free people alone."
"I support freedom of speech...
...for everyone except you, Robbie Lee. And to put it in perspective, I even support Fred Phelps' right to be a hateful, disgusting asshole."
There are many more like this. People are suggesting, in their defense of Benjamin Franklin and the freedom of speech, that Robert T. Lee should be punished for excersising his.
I saw people ridiculing Robert T. Lee for his failure to understand the quote and the idea behind it, but insodoing failing to understand, or at least value, the importance of defending the freedom of all speech; thus making not only asses but hypocrites out of themselves.
While such things sadden and disturb me, I can say with total honesty that I would die for his right to spew such nonsense and yours as well.
On a side note:
""Why would anyone be foolish enough to fight to the DEATH to allow someone the freedom to speak that which is wrong or that in which they disagree?"
Seriously, Ben Franklin is an idiot. And I bet you atheists would also have us believe it was Benny F who invented electricity too. Come on now, we all know Edison did it with his lightbulb."
'Also' having anybody believe something 'too' is redundant and rhetorical. It's annoying. I'm all for the freedom of speech, but I'm for its grammatical accuracy as well.
I don't consider myself foolish. I would die in defense of the freedom of speech, and my reasoning is that free speech is greater and more precious than my life, or any one life, and that if we who believe in it do not do everything we humanly can to protect it, it will be left alone and vulnerable to those who would seek to destroy it.
Also: nobody invented electricity.
Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod, the first practical application of electricity, in 1792.
Thomas Edison developed a practical incandescent, electric light. Contrary to popular belief, he didn't "invent" the lightbulb, but rather he improved upon a 50-year-old idea. He did so in 1879.
If you're going to continue preaching on the subject of electricity and the discovery thereof, I suggest you head in the direction of the nearest library and look up some of the following names:
William Gilbert
Otto von Guericke
Robert Boyle
Stephen Gray
Charles Francois du Fay
Alessandro Volta
Westinghouse
And of course, Nikola Tesla
Certainly there are more people and things related to the subject, but this is what I can think of now.