Ben forwarded a couple of great articles on the Charlie Hebdo controversy and the response to this incident.
Money quote in the first article:
. . . “free speech,” in the hands of many westerners, actually means: it is vital that the ideas I like be protected, and the right to offend groups I dislike be cherished; anything else is fair game.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/01/14/days-hosting-massive-free-speech-march-france-arrests-comedian-facebook-comments/
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/they-are-not-exactly-charlie-20150115?utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=011515_16&utm_medium=email&ea=YnNoYXJwZThAZ21haWwuY29t
Let me be clear: The murders were an atrocity.
But . . .
With the freedom of speech comes a responsibility to use that speech with some common sense.
Poking fun at Muslims and Islam is thinly veiled racism, I don't care how you slice it.
And . . .
It is TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY DISRESPECTFUL.
I live in a Muslim country where everything is steeped in the teaching of Islam. Certainly I don't agree with everything that is said or done, but I didn't agree with much of the religious discourse in the US either.
One of the things I love about the UAE is the freedom they have graciously allowed for other religions to prosper and flourish here. There is no stifling of other ideas as long as you don't use those ideas to proselytize.
They don't care who I pray to or what I believe, as long as I don't bother them, they don't bother me.
That's a lesson we could all learn.
Money quote in the first article:
. . . “free speech,” in the hands of many westerners, actually means: it is vital that the ideas I like be protected, and the right to offend groups I dislike be cherished; anything else is fair game.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/01/14/days-hosting-massive-free-speech-march-france-arrests-comedian-facebook-comments/
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/they-are-not-exactly-charlie-20150115?utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=011515_16&utm_medium=email&ea=YnNoYXJwZThAZ21haWwuY29t
Let me be clear: The murders were an atrocity.
But . . .
With the freedom of speech comes a responsibility to use that speech with some common sense.
Poking fun at Muslims and Islam is thinly veiled racism, I don't care how you slice it.
And . . .
It is TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY DISRESPECTFUL.
I live in a Muslim country where everything is steeped in the teaching of Islam. Certainly I don't agree with everything that is said or done, but I didn't agree with much of the religious discourse in the US either.
One of the things I love about the UAE is the freedom they have graciously allowed for other religions to prosper and flourish here. There is no stifling of other ideas as long as you don't use those ideas to proselytize.
They don't care who I pray to or what I believe, as long as I don't bother them, they don't bother me.
That's a lesson we could all learn.
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