BBC's Mark Thompson: mock Christians not other religions.

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BBC's Mark Thompson: mock Christians not other religions.
OP - March 04, 2012, 10:49 PM

Do you think this is right?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2106953/Christianity-gets-sensitive-treatment-religions-admits-BBC-chief.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

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Re: BBC's Mark Thompson: mock Christians not other religions.
Reply #1 - March 04, 2012, 10:57 PM

I wouldn't expect a head of an org to say that but I don't strongly disagree. While I'm all for free speech in law, sensible people should keep in mind that some groups have their religion tied to their cultural/ethnic identity (and I wish this wasn't so) and this means that mocking those religions may provoke a different reaction to provoking a dormant religion of the majority. People should also keep in mind that some use criticism of a religion as an excuse for race baiting and that it can be difficult for a member if the group to tell the two apart.

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Re: BBC's Mark Thompson: mock Christians not other religions.
Reply #2 - March 04, 2012, 11:16 PM

Quote
“I complain in the strongest possible terms”, is different from, “I complain in the strongest possible terms and I am loading my AK47 as I write”.

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Re: BBC's Mark Thompson: mock Christians not other religions.
Reply #3 - March 05, 2012, 12:55 AM

Quote from: Sprout on March 04, 2012, 10:57 PM
I wouldn't expect a head of an org to say that but I don't strongly disagree. While I'm all for free speech in law, sensible people should keep in mind that some groups have their religion tied to their cultural/ethnic identity (and I wish this wasn't so) and this means that mocking those religions may provoke a different reaction to provoking a dormant religion of the majority. People should also keep in mind that some use criticism of a religion as an excuse for race baiting and that it can be difficult for a member if the group to tell the two apart.

In that case, in addition to mocking Islam and treating it exactly the same as Christianity... why doesn't the BBC also propagandize that fact that a religion is NOT necessarily tied with cultural/ethnic identity? Thus help to get rid of the pussy-footing around Islam and the "race-baiting" which they're afraid may follow.

Maybe they can emphasize the fact that just because a person's name is Abdul, or Imran, or Hassan, or Abdullah... they're not necessarily a pious Muslim? Why don't they can introduce an Islam-hating Pakistani ex-Muslim character in Eastenders called Sharif?

.
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Re: BBC's Mark Thompson: mock Christians not other religions.
Reply #4 - March 05, 2012, 01:29 AM

The BBC in part kind of represents the mainstream liberal view on Islam in Britain - wary to frightened of it, scared of the reaction of Muslims should they be offended by something, and scared of adding to the background noise of demonisation of Muslims.

This leads to overcompensation on the one hand, often for noble reasons, even though often it means hagiography shading into propaganda, whilst doing nothing to address the real issues that need addressing, which can be seen in what the head of the BBC explains here - if you recognise there is an elephant in the room, the next question is, what are you going to do about it.

As it is, we're in a kind of limbo where we acknowledge its presence, and pretend there is nothing to worry about. Which leads to an unspoken tension that rises. When people are inhibited from speaking freely, when self censorship is the norm, you are storing up problems for the future big time.

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Re: BBC's Mark Thompson: mock Christians not other religions.
Reply #5 - March 05, 2012, 01:47 AM

The other thing is that the BBC has in the past got the balance right and produced some good journalism on Islamism - the Panorama pieces on the MCB were landmark in confronting the Jamaati ideology that they peddled. That is the kind of responsible stuff they should be doing. They copped a hell of a lot of heat for that too but they didn't hold back.

The actual religious thing. I understand the desire not to make a Life of Brian, at the same time, voices like of ex Muslims and those critical of aspects of Islam have to be included in the conversation.

"we can smell traitors and country haters"

Quote from: arX on May 01, 2011, 03:33 AM
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Re: BBC's Mark Thompson: mock Christians not other religions.
Reply #6 - March 05, 2012, 01:51 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRxNkkeA5xQ

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Re: BBC's Mark Thompson: mock Christians not other religions.
Reply #7 - March 05, 2012, 01:59 AM

Quote from: Raccoon Rapist on March 04, 2012, 11:16 PM

Quote
“I complain in the strongest possible terms”, is different from, “I complain in the strongest possible terms and I am loading my AK47 as I write”.

HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHA
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Re: BBC's Mark Thompson: mock Christians not other religions.
Reply #8 - March 05, 2012, 03:52 AM

Quote from: billy on March 05, 2012, 01:29 AM
As it is, we're in a kind of limbo where we acknowledge its presence, and pretend there is nothing to worry about. Which leads to an unspoken tension that rises. When people are inhibited from speaking freely, when self censorship is the norm, you are storing up problems for the future big time.

Bingo. This, in a nutshell, is why I'm on this forum.

Though the less time I spend in Britain the less angsty I am about it (which is both sensible and deeply selfish).
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Re: BBC's Mark Thompson: mock Christians not other religions.
Reply #9 - March 05, 2012, 10:29 PM

Quote
He added: ‘The point is that for a Muslim, a depiction, particularly a comic or demeaning depiction, of the Prophet Mohammed might have the emotional force of a piece of grotesque child pornography.

‘One of the mistakes secularists make is not to understand the character of what blasphemy feels like to someone who is a realist in their religious belief.’

I think he miss a point here. Blasphemy used to have « emotional force of a piece of grotesque child pornography » to Christians. It stopped because after watching a few, most of them realized it wasn't so bad, after all.
How do you expect people not to consider their religion above criticism/satire/mockery when you refuse to criticize, satire or mock it ? Things don't change by themselves, it takes courageous people to change them.
Quote
In an interview, he said Islam was ‘almost entirely’ practised by people who already may feel in other ways ‘isolated’, ‘prejudiced against’ and who may regard an attack on their religion as ‘racism by other means’.

Well, if they fell prejudiced when they are treated the same way as others, and don't get more respect for them, I'd say the problem is on their side.
Not meaning we shouldn't help them overcome this problem, but hiding it and encouraging them to continue this way does not seem the right thing to do.

So I encourage caricature of Muhammad. Actually, that was one of my old avatar :

(Text reads : I'm a caricature of Muhammad).
I even made a cool animated version where Muhammad became Jesus, then Chuck Norris, then Sarkozy, and a few others, bug sadly gif does not support transparency as well as png.

Quote from: Shahid Raza on March 05, 2012, 12:55 AM
Why don't they can introduce an Islam-hating Pakistani ex-Muslim character in Eastenders called Sharif?

Because that would be think off just as much an attack on Muslims than it would if the Islam-hating character is Benedict or Samuel. Or maybe even worse. And the actor playing the character would be just as much a target for any radical than Ayaan Hirsi Ali or Taslima Nasreen, and I don't think any actor wants that.
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