"WHEN FASCISM COMES TO AMERICA IT WILL BE WRAPPED IN THE FLAG
AND CARRYING A CROSS." -SINCLAIR LEWIS

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Everybody Draw Mohammed Day

You can read about the entire controversy here. I've been meaning to post about this for the last several days because I think that the principles involved here are extremely important. Religious zealots are essentially threatening the lives of American citizens because they've exercised their freedom of speech. As I think I proved on Easter a few weeks back religious folks can get pretty upset when you use your First Amendment rights to say something about their god that they don't like, although to the credit of the individuals who were pissed off that day they only peppered me with verbal abuses whilst never threatening me with violence.

South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are two of the most honest and fearless individuals working in television today and they deserve the support of everyone who believes that our freedom of speech is important enough to fight for against the intimidation tactics of Islamist religious bullies. This isn't about fighting Islam (although I'm sure some similarly intolerant individuals will use it as an excuse to do so), it's about fighting censorship through fear. It's about fighting terrorism. Nobody in this world has a right not to be offended. I'll be posting my own Mohammed creation on May 20th and I encourage other bloggers to do the same.

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[Update: This always pumps me up and gets me laughing at the same time:


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1 comment:

magpie said...

I'm not totally with you on this one, JBW.

"Freedom of speech" is often a cosy refuge for those who seek simply to vilify, and then get away by calling themselves principled for doing it.
Like all our other freedoms, our conduct with regard to that freedom must be worthy of it.

It's not a catch-all get-out-of-jail for fucking people over. It's a political right to speak for truth.

"It's about fighting terrorism".... Not it's not. Destroying Al Qaeda training camps is fighting terrorism.
This has nothing to do with that. And if this were about sending up Jesus we wouldn't even be talking this linkage.

"Nobody in this world has a right not to be offended".

Whoa... reconsider what you're saying there.... Because the ancillary to that is that everyone has the right to go round verbally bullying people in any way they want.
Do you reckon the parents of teens who have killed themselves because of school bullying would be on board for your argument? I reckon not.

If someone called Obama (who - despite the paranoid imagination of the Right - is not even a religious figure) a "something@#$%something nasty" you'd be on their case faster than Republican going to a sex show with donor money.
And quite rightly so.
And if the difference there is that Obama is not a religious figure, but Mohammed is, then that's tacit acceptance that vilification is just fine as long as it's based on religion.
Have I just vilified Republicans? maybe... Depends whether you are a Republican.

In any case YOU are able to comfortably say "nobody has the right not to be offended" because you are a capable debater, have high self-esteem, are emotionally resilient, not in a minority, and are at all times up for verbal agro (confrontation) because you like it.
Not everyone is so well armored.

May 20th is my mum's birthday.
Anybody saying anything about her will meet my friend 'Pain' - to quote the great Mr T.