Ari, Ning dan Mujahidan

I Love You Brian May

Cartoons, Free Speech, and Responsibility
Brian May (Brianmay.com)

I'm not really a political animal .... perhaps because
I'm so deeply suspicious of the motives of politicians
....

But the other great furore going on is of course the
question of these insulting cartoons, and whether they
should have been published.

No-one can condone the appalingly violent response
which we have seen to the cartoons - that to me is a
different matter - concerning the behaviour of people
whom Westerners understand all too little - and not
something which I wish to comment on at this point ...
But I can comment on our own behaviour. It amazes me
that there are attempts to justify the publication of
these obviously insulting bits of tat by talking about
Free Speech.

Anyone who aligns themselves with our government's
policies, is on insupportably shaky ground if they
support the right of the Danish press to publish such
material. Again, nobody seems to have noticed this,
but this government has clearly established the fact
that it tolerates some forms of free speech and not
others. Remember ? They recently passed a Bill that
enables them to put in prison anyone who, in their
'free speech", incites racial hatred or violence.

Are you telling me that these particular Danes looked
at these cartoons, and did not realise that they have
the potential to cause racial and inter-religious
hatred, and the threat of violence? Do we WANT to
support the right of everyone to go around insulting a
religious or racial group ? To me, it's a bit like
freedom of action. We all like to be free to walk
around and punch the air, and feel our power, but if
one of those punches lands in someone's face, haven't
we abused our freedom ? A large helping of common
sense is lacking here.

Let's hear it for consideration, moderation and
keeping a true sense of humour - which means being
able to laugh at ourselves, not laugh at other
people's expense. Remember when you were at school
.... being laughed at was at least as hurtful as being
punched ? And made us just as angry ?

And please ... calls for violence never solved
anything. That's the lesson our own leaders learned in
Afghanistan and Iraq. Oh, sorry; I forgot - they
DIDN'T learn it .

My God, they still can't see it.

Peace

bri