The 3 men — a New Zealander and 2 Burmese — promoting some event at a bar, had put up a Facebook post with an image of Buddha wearing headphones. They'd quickly removed that image and even apologized:
"Our ignorance is embarrassing for us, and we will attempt to correct it by learning more about Myanmar’s religions, culture and history, characteristics that make this such a rich and unique society," the apology said.
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From what I know of the man, I don't think the Buudha would agree with that sentence.
That's the difference between here and there. Here, we only persecute those who offend the minority religions.
How do you offend a religion anyway? The religion has feelings?
There are those who bristle at the notion of American exceptionalism (a term coined by the enemies of this republic, btw). Among them are our president and many academics, many of whom have shown a similar disrespect to the concept of free speech. In most countries, including the UK and Canada, to their eternal shame, expressing an unpopular opinion can land you in jail. Occasionally authorities in this country try to stifle speech, usually in a mock heroic manner, in defense of this or that self-contradictory dogma, but they do so at their peril. Only here, in the only revolutionary society on earth, does the conscience speak fearlessly.
I don't have much sympathy with the New Zealander and very little for the two Burmese-- how can you grow up in a society whose norms of public behaviour are well known and not exactly libertine and expect to get away with using an image of the Buddha for marketing purposes? Of course there may be some truth to the claim or insinuation that the doing of justice in this case had been improperly politicized but, pft. At least such offenses aren't capital crimes in Burma.
Where the Muslim jihad conquest rubber meets the road.
Blowing up Buddha Idols is hard work, but somebody has to do it.
Charlie Hebdo all over again. The problem with growing up in an irreverent, liberal culture where nothing is sacred and that which is hld up as sacred is fodder for exploitation and mockery, is that you start to believe that everyone everywhere is like that. It becomes very hard to understand that some people actually do have a sense of the sacred, and when they say "we will kill you," "we will jail you," they actually mean it.
What brand headphones? I hope they didn't denigrate any Sennheisers.
There are plenty of Americans who think there are no free speech rights when the speech is for commercial purposes.
Ann Althouse said...
"There are plenty of Americans who think there are no free speech rights when the speech is for commercial purposes."
No rights, or at least attenuated rights. And not just to the left of the aisle, either; then-justice Rehnquist was skeptical that commercial speech lived on the same plane as speech pertaining to the commonweal. I don't remember if he ever changed his mind, I'm not a First Amendment guy, but I'm thinking of cases such as Virginia Pharmacy Board and Central Hudson.
There's lots of stuff floating about in the global culture that is massively offensive to Christianity. Exceptionally, there is an agreement in America that you let those others - and they are other when they are absolutely indifferent to how offensive they are and they know they are - you let them speak. You live with it even when you are in the majority.
And it's disappointing to see that some of the most offensive are trying to make Christian witness a crime. I don't know why they don't see that that is double standard and a pathway to civil conflict.
Now, all I can picture is Jesus with some dope cans on his earz.
Religions are SO fragile.
To understand the background, you must know that Burma is plagued by radical, violent, extremist Buddhists.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/world/asia/extremism-rises-among-myanmar-buddhists-wary-of-muslim-minority.html
"But over the past year, images of rampaging Burmese Buddhists carrying swords and the vituperative sermons of monks like Ashin Wirathu have underlined the rise of extreme Buddhism in Myanmar — and revealed a darker side of the country’s greater freedoms after decades of military rule. Buddhist lynch mobs have killed more than 200 Muslims and forced more than 150,000 people, mostly Muslims, from their homes."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/opinion/deadly-alliances-against-muslims.html (editorial)
“The time has come to ally internationally,” Galagodaththe Gnanasara, the leader of the radical Sri Lankan Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena, announced at a convention held in Colombo last month. The guest of honor was Ashin Wirathu, a Buddhist radical whose picture Time magazine put on its July 1 cover as “The Face of Buddhist Terror.” The government of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa ignored pleas by Sri Lankan Muslim and Christian civil groups, fearful of more anti-Muslim violence in their country, to deny Mr. Wirathu a visa. Granting Mr. Wirathu a visa can only reinforce the fears of many Muslims that the government — and perhaps more powerful regional allies — back Bodu Bala Sena, which translates as Buddhist Power Force.
Is the NEA funding "Buddah in Urine" art again?
I can't wait until Progressives are able to enact Hate Speech laws in the United States!
http://thoughtcatalog.com/tanya-cohen/2015/03/the-first-amendment-should-never-protect-hatred/
This has nothing to do with religion. The denigration was an act of, in progressive parlance, a "hate crime". The same denigration of individual dignity and class dignity happens as a state-protected act in liberal states.
We are SO fortunate to live in the US. At least half the commenters on Althouse would be sent to jail (or worse) elsewhere in the world.
Plan your international travels accordingly.
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