Thursday, September 13, 2007

IF ALLAH HAD CREATED ADAM AND EVE...

[CARTOON REMOVED: OBVIOUSLY THIS WAS OFFENSIVE TO PERSONS OF A PARTICULAR RELIGION, WHO MUST HAVE COMPLAINED TO GOOGLE, WHO PUT TWO 'HOLDS' ON THIS BLOG].

DEAR FRIENDS,

PLEASE COMMENT: IS THIS IN POOR TASTE, OR SHOULD HUMOUR/HUMOR/CARTOONS BE FREE TO TARGET BLONDES, CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS... WHOEVER?

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT GIVING YOUR REASONS (NO SPAM OR ADVERTISING PLEASE). THANKS.

6 comments:

Rowland Croucher said...

E.g.:

Pro?: Muslims should learn to laugh at/about themselves, like every other race on earth does...

Con?: It's up to Muslims to poke fun at themselves, not for others to do it...

Your ideas?

Thanks.

Rowland Croucher (See our website - http://jmm.aaa.net.au - for many shades of opinion about Islam, Christianity etc.)

Rowland Croucher said...

I sent a request for comments to a couple of Usenet newsgroups.

Sample responses:

* All jokes offend someone. It is of course much better if the joke is against oneself, but if it's funny, circulate it.
I can't again see why you shouldn't tell Englishman/
Irishman/Scotsman jokes, but the very same stories are OK if it's told about blondes/brunettes/ redheads, Essex girls, Scousers etc.

* As someone who (as a Christian) finds "The Life of Brian" (film, Monty
Python) absolutely hilarious, I feel that if Muslims find that cartoon
offensive, then they are over-reacting. However, they *might* find the
statement "*If* Allah had created Adam and Eve" offensive, and "How Muslims
view Adam and Eve" might have been a better caption from their point of
view. Likewise in "The Life of Brian", Brian is not actually presented as
*being* Christ, but rather someone who is *mistaken for* Christ.

Personally, I found the cartoon not only funny, but thought-provoking, since
(like much humour) it does also make a comment about customs vs reason.

* I think it's funny. Most jokes will offend someone, so go offend brother :-)

BTW I told someone I was agnostic once, they asked me to prove it.

Anyone else?

Rowland Croucher said...

British philosopher, Anthony - usually known as A. C. - Grayling believes... free speech is not a secondary issue but "the fundamental right, from which all other rights flow. Without it, you cannot elect a free parliament or defend yourself in a court of law".

Does it include the freedom to offend? Emphatically yes, he says. If political views cannot be protected from a cartoonist's pen, why should religious views? "It's the rent that has to be paid in a free society. This is a lesson Muslims have got to learn."

The lesson, he says, is that mocking a belief is quite different from mocking an individual. "Many Muslims take it personally. But it's not about them personally." Unlike skin colour or gender, which are part of an individual's essence, religion or ideology are beliefs, freely chosen, and therefore fair game for criticism.

More... use the indexes at http://jmm.aaa.net.au

Anonymous said...

fact is that Muslims instituted the "dress code" for women long after the Koran came into existence. This code much much later add-on.

Rowland Croucher said...

Discussion is now closed on this topic.

Thanks Everyone!

Rowland Croucher

Becky said...

I don't think Adam or Eve care at this point. We are all God's children, Freedom of speach means just that. Be free to speak. Even God Himself would not change that. He gave us our free angency for a reason. He also want's us to be nice.