Thursday, February 02, 2006

Strange ...

As the cartoon controversy intensifies, two things become clear.

One is that the rationalists, the debunkers of religious myth, the righteous campaigners against primitive superstition, the brave artistic iconoclasts, are remarkably quiet.

The Indie hasn't put the cartoons on its front page. Nor has the Guardian, or New Statesman.

Richard Dawkins is quiescent, Johann Hari schtum.

Gilbert and George aren't planning a new show devoted to images of Mohammed.

BBC television, which was happy to offend Christians, blurs out the offending images in its news reports, as if the story is about hard core pornography.

A Simon Carr in the Indie has an explanation.

"Rowan Atkinson has been publicly worrying that the (Religious Hatred) Bill will stop comedians making jokes about Islam. Comedians don't make jokes about Islam. They make jokes about politicians and Jesus Christ and English vicars but we're just too frigging gutless to apply the same satirical intensity to Islam. The penalties, as Theo van Gogh found out, can be more severe than anything [government minister] Mr. Goggins is proposing."

Which is the second strange thing. Because, as we're always being told, the death penalty isn't a deterrent. And the people who tell us that are the same people who are keeping their heads down now.

Odd, that.


PS - the verdict in the BNP trial is due today.

9 comments:

James G. said...

In their defense, Gilbert and George did include some Islamic imagery in their latest; a few crescents and stars and squiggly writing.

And in a recent interview, they did decry the changing religious face of their beloved East End and the flyers that get stuffed through their letterbox.

Anonymous said...

"...Islamic imagery in their latest; a few crescents and stars and squiggly writing."

Hardly Piss christ though
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ

Anonymous said...

Are you absolutely sure that Gilbert and George's squiggly lines weren't ice cream packaging?

The Pedant-General said...

Oooh - that's biting stuff Laban...

As you might expect, I'm with the Danes on this.

Simply staggered that the BBC have not even tried to present the Freedom of Speech argument.

Anonymous said...

You turned the silly arguments of the "progressives" back upon them quite nicely.
Very well put.

Deepdiver

Serf said...

Contrast the two

1) Sick and twisted man put to death for his crimes, in free democracy, after due legal process.
2) Man whose crime is to upset a few nutters, is executed on the street in broad daylight.

Which one is worse in the eyes of those gentle folk on the left????

dearieme said...

Well said.
P.S. Have you considered styling yourself "Brother Laban Tall"? Then we could abbreviate it as BLT.

the ink slinger said...

The penalties, as Theo van Gogh found out, can be more severe than anything [government minister] Mr. Goggins is proposing.

Come and get us then. Our door is always open.

Shuggy said...

the brave artistic iconoclasts

Ha ha - it's on this sort of thing you're at your best. Aren't they absolutely pathetic? My own view is that the British press were right not to publish but as you point out, given their previous conduct, they can't help looking a bit pussilanimous. That's because they are pussilanimous.

Btw, dearieme's 'BLT' a goer, don'tcha think?