Meta Blog Posted February 3, 2006 Report Share Posted February 3, 2006 Originally from The Charlotte Capitalist , Do you know that it is becoming illegal to poke fun at religion in England? Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted to make it a criminal offense to incite religious hatred through threatening words or actions, insults and abuse. [The Jawa Report] What bothers me is the mix here. What actions? What abuse? Of course one may not initiate force against anyone. But laws for battery have been on the books for years -- no matter the issue. But weaving "words" and "insults" into this is pure evil. And in Denmark: Last month I wrote about assaults on the principle of free speech in Denmark as people assail the right of a newspaper to print editorial cartoons critical of Islam. Jordan has called for the cartoonist to be punished and international organizations continue to display a complete lack of respect for basic liberty. More from Austin Cline here. So Islamists go around for the last two decades blowing up ships, World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and so on and their religion, which is the basis of their violence, gets a free pass on criticism. Hmmmmm... More.. BEIRUT: Hizbullah's Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Europe and the world late Wednesday millions of Muslims would "escalate the situation if the humiliation of Prophet Mohammad was not dealt with decisively and strictly" by the appropriate countries. [Daily Star, Lebanon] Good news. European newspapers are fighting back: PARIS - Newspapers in France, Germany and Spain reprinted Danish caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed on Wednesday, saying press freedom was more important than protests and boycotts the cartoons have sparked across the Muslim world. The Danish embassy in Damascus was evacuated after a bomb threat that turned out to be a hoax and Syria recalled its ambassador from Denmark in protest at the cartoons, one of which shows the Prophet Mohammed wearing a turban shaped like a bomb. Peaceful religion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarBuck Posted February 3, 2006 Report Share Posted February 3, 2006 Thankfully in Canada we have laws against incitement to religous and racial hatred/violence. Beleive it or not, here it is actually considered barbaric to say " Hey, let's take all them there niggas and kill'em" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted February 3, 2006 Report Share Posted February 3, 2006 Not sure what you're saying StarBuck. Are you saying that speech that amounts to a real threat of force should be illegal, or are you saying that insults that do not rise to a threat of force should also be illegal? (I think there's an earlier thread about this.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unconquered Posted February 4, 2006 Report Share Posted February 4, 2006 Beleive it or not, here it is actually considered barbaric to say " Hey, let's take all them there niggas and kill'em" But replace that with "Doctors on strike against socialized medicine" and would it be "socially acceptable"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardRahl Posted February 4, 2006 Report Share Posted February 4, 2006 But replace that with "Doctors on strike against socialized medicine" and would it be "socially acceptable"? I seriously doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dark_unicorn Posted February 4, 2006 Report Share Posted February 4, 2006 (edited) Thankfully in Canada we have laws against incitement to religous and racial hatred/violence. Beleive it or not, here it is actually considered barbaric to say " Hey, let's take all them there niggas and kill'em" You guys also have had (I'm not sure if you still do) laws against owning a satelite dish and practicing medicine privately. When a country tilts this close to economic fascism, the next step is for the so-called "laws against incitement" to become meaningless as the various groups pressure the government to make exceptions to those laws for their particular group against another. The only thing that I would actually be thankful for is living in a country where such mythologies as race, class, or any other pressure group are not recognized at all. Instead, everyone would recognized as their own person and would be free to live independent of the tyranny of the coalition of minorities/majority. Edited February 4, 2006 by dark_unicorn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted February 4, 2006 Report Share Posted February 4, 2006 The State of Connecticut has a rule that prohibits ridicule on account of race, creed or color. Reading the details, I noticed that it also mentions religion. I wonder if those cartoons would be illegal in Connecticut. Sec. 53-37. Ridicule on account of race, creed or color. Any person who, by his advertisement, ridicules or holds up to contempt any person or class of persons, on account of the creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race of such person or class of persons, shall be fined not more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days or both. (1949 Rev., S. 8376.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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