Kyle: Thats because there is no goo, Mr. Cruise. You see, I learned something today. Throughout this whole ordeal, weve all wanted to show things that we werent allowed to show, but it wasnt because of some magic goo. It was because of the magical power of threatening people with violence. Thats obviously the only true power. If theres anything weve all learned, its that terrorizing people works. Jesus: Thats right. Dont you see, gingers, if you dont want to be made fun of anymore, all you need are guns and bombs to get people to stop. Santa: Thats right, friends. All you need to do is instill fear and be willing to hurt people and you can get whatever you want. The only true power is violence. ([1] South Park, 201, uncensored ending scene) ----------------------------------- Free Speech Does Not Mean Freedom From Criticism; but what in the case where criticism is in the form of martyrdom? I am a supporter of free speech and find satire a great medium to entice hard to discuss topics; but in light of Charlie Hebdo shootings, I think its important to keep in mind, To simplify the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices as “Good, Valiant Westerners vs. Evil, Savage Muslims” is not only racist, it’s dangerously overstated. People getting upset does not prove that the satire was good. And, this is the hardest part, the murder of the satirists in question does not prove that their satire was good. Their satire was bad, and remains bad. Their satire was racist, and remains racist. ([2] Canfield, hoodedutilitarian) I appreciate cartoonists and Charlie Hebdos existence as a publication of satire; however, I stand by my assertion that je ne suis pas Charlie. As an atheist myself, this is not a view of anti-religion. Your beliefs are your beliefs and has no effect on my life; therefore, I do not particularly care what you practice, so long as you do not preach it to others. Respect is the key; which Charlie Hebdo lacked in in their representation of Muslims and Islam. One need only study the doctrine of Islam—not merely as it existed in the 7th century, but as it exists today—and ask some very basic questions. What, for instance, is the penalty for apostasy? It isn’t spelled out clearly in the Koran—though verses 2:217 and 4:89 suggest that those who seek to lead others away from the faith must be killed. However, the general sanction is made abundantly clear in the hadith, and in the opinions of Muslim jurists and Muslim mobs everywhere. The year is 2014, and the penalty for apostasy, everywhere under Islam, is death. I have yet to meet an apologist for the religion, however evasive, who could lie about this fact with a straight face. (Perhaps Greenwald would like to be the first.) And I receive emails from former Muslims who are all too aware of what it means to be a former Muslim. Depending on where they live, these people run a real risk of being murdered, perhaps even by members of their own families, for having lost their faith. Let’s take a trip to the real world. Consider: Anyone who wants to draw a cartoon, write a novel, or stage a Broadway play that denigrates Mormonism is free to do it. In the United States, this freedom is ostensibly guaranteed by the First Amendment—but that is not, in fact, what guarantees it. The freedom to poke fun at Mormonism is guaranteed by the fact that Mormons do not dispatch assassins to silence their critics or summon murderous hordes in response to satire. As I have pointed out before, when The Book of Mormon became the most celebrated musical of the year, the LDS Church protested by placing ads for the faith in Playbill. A wasted effort, perhaps: but this was a genuinely charming sign of good humor, given the alternatives. What are the alternatives? Can any reader of this page imagine the staging of a similar play about Islam in the United States, or anywhere else? No you cannot—unless you also imagine the creators of this play being hunted for the rest of their lives by religious maniacs. Yes, there are crazy people in every faith—and I often hear from them. But what is true of Mormonism is true of every other faith, with a single exception. At this moment in history, there is only one religion that systematically stifles free expression with credible threats of violence. The truth is, we have already lost our First Amendment rights with respect to Islam—and because they brand any observation of this fact a symptom of Islamophobia, Muslim apologists like Greenwald are largely to blame. ([3] Harris, SamHarris.org) ----------------------------------- [1] South Park, 201: youtu.be/C_9tMpCiWRU [2] Jacob Canfield, In the Wake of Charlie Hebdo, Free Speech Does Not Mean Freedom From Criticism: hoodedutilitarian/2015/01/in-the-wake-of-charlie-hebdo-free-speech-does-not-mean-freedom-from-criticism/ [3] Sam Harris, RESPONSE TO CONTROVERSY: samharris.org/site/full_text/response-to-controversy2
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 20:25:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015