--- In [email protected], anon_astute_ff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > In Norway, as I recall, its an intolerable crime to insult the king, > even as a joke.. More so in Thailand as I recall, where you can get > into serious trouble by doing so. Hard for Americans to "get" that -- > they joke about the royal family in UK and elsewhere all the time -- > seeing kings as antiquated throwbacks of tyranny. But then Norwegians and Brittons don't bomb their embassies as a result. > > But damn, mess with that flag -- or say something unholy about Jesus > -- and your ass is fried. Lots of other examples -- Jewish Holy land, > Hindu sacred cows and temple sites (adhoya sp?), cutting a sikhs hair, > etc. > > To be insensitive to another culture and disrespect their sacred > things -- "because it seems trivial to us" -- is the height -- or > depth -- of stupidity, crudeness, rudeness, and barbarianism. > > To say "I think every news channel and newspaper in the world should > publish the cartoon, including the ones in Muslim countries. If the > fanatics have too many targets it will be the same as no targets" > marks you as the above. > > But hey, maybe you have a point. Lets go burn some flags, drag some > crucifixes through urine, deface some Stars of David with swastikas, > and burn some crosses on every block across the US. If those US > fanatics have too many targets it will be the same as no targets". > I didn't say their beliefs were trivial. My point was to make the cartoon so ubiquitous they don't have a target, much in the way the Danish people did when the Nazis required Jews to wear the Star of David: the whole population, including the Kind, wore the Star of David on their clothes. If everyone's doing it, it might get a little harder to find the target you want to hate. There's a difference between disrespect and sacrilege. You can disrespect another's religion but only commit a sacrilege in your own. Those rioting in protest against the cartoon are opposing it as a great religious travesty, a sacrilege. Which is de facto imposing their religious standards on non-Muslims. "...burn some flags, drag some > crucifixes through urine, deface some Stars of David with swastikas, > and burn some crosses on every block across the US. " All those are examples of physical acts, some of which have been associated with considerable violence. That's a far cry from publishing a cartoon, which is an editorial comment. I agree it is in bad taste and disrespectful, but the violence and riots upon its publication do nothing to undermine the assumptions that prompted it. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/UlWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
