Perhaps, but in 1988, Christian Fundamentalists linked to the French NF firebombed a cinema for showing The Last Temptation of Christ. My response was to someone equivocating the lampooning of a Jewish person with the ridicule of a leader of a religion. There is plenty of comedy taking the piss out of Muslim people, such as Citizen Khan, Goodness Gracious Me, Carry on Up the Khyber. No one burnt down a cinema because Sid James was having a bit of Tiffin' or Bernard Bresslaw said Fakir! Off! In fact if you watched that film very carefully; consider how careful the jokes were, in 1968. Then setting was the Khyber Pass in the 1890s, a Muslim Area. The rebels were lead by the duplicitous Khasi of Kalabar, played by Kenneth Williams. Bresslaw played the viscious mountain man Bungdit Din. The characters were clearly designed to make one think of Pathan tribesmen, who made a habit of piling up heads of slain British squaddies by the side of the road. But, the characters invoked religious curses, threatening a death by a thousand cuts (which is technically one of the Qing dynasty punishments), before chortling the British were used to cuts, but invoking a completely fictional god. Were the makers of the film afraid that someone was going to come around and cut their head off? Probably not, I suspect, back then people thought you can take the piss out of a man, but never his religion. People since have become uncouth, and deliberately seek to cause hurt to others, through some possibly sexual gratification. And note there is a difference between mocking a church or an institution and mocking the belief system itself. Muslims regularly take the piss out of the Mullahs, even in Iran, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/28/iran.film Now while I could take the piss out of Jesus, Jehovah, Buddha, Vishnu, I don't really feel inclined to, and I don't understand anyone who feels the urge to. Would I want such comedy banned? Yes I would, because such work adds nothing to society, all it does is sew discord and hate. In general, Western societies have abolished blasphemy laws, in favour of anti-hate speech laws. I don't believe anyone has the right to hurt anyone else, how ever that is achieved. It sounds like a lot here want the right to hurt people. No religion in a secular society should be put above any others. So either none are protected or all are protected. If the Muslims want more protection for their religion, maybe its because they are standing up for themselves, rather than giving in to people full of hate for their fellow man. And yes, I know there are some Muslims who feel that way as well. Whats shocking, when it comes to established hate, is how routine it is for Southern Baptists and their ilk to be certain that all Catholics will burn in hell.
Create an account or sign in to comment