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Thursday, February 2, 2006

Random Picture Of Mohammed Post!

Fear not dear reader. Freedom of speech lives at Queer Conservative!

8 comments:

SGT Lori 2/05/2006 07:41:00 PM  

Good for you! I posted a picture of one of the Muhammad cartoons. Let FREEDOM RING!
Love your blog. Refreshingly honest

Anonymous 2/07/2006 07:23:00 PM  

If we really want to celebrate freedom of expression and the press, putting down Mohammed seems easy. Why not run the images of the sculpture "Piss Christ?" Or a cartoon of Jesus taking it in the ass by John? Or the Virgin Mary getting screwed by a Dove? That's courageous!

Kevin 2/07/2006 09:54:00 PM  

Uh, Marc, you do realize that all the images of Christ and the Virgin etc. have already been done dozens of times right? And that Christians, just sort of shake their heads, tell the artists they're insane, maybe ask futilely for some respect, and then move on with their lives. While Muslims on the other hand are rioting, killing each other, threatening to kill your fellow westerners, burning down embassies... Is any of this getting through? Probably not...sigh.

Anonymous 2/09/2006 03:14:00 PM  

Queer conservative,
Let me tell you what had "really happenned" when western art people wanted to express themselves creatively by producing movies, photos, etc. on holy mary & jesus? Does anyone remember the photo "Piss christ", the play "Corpus Christi" by McNally, and of course Martin Scorcese's beautiful movie "The Last
Temptation of Christ"?

Now let see what were the
"reactions" of the Christendom to those invaluable works of art:
1. In the case of Andres Serrano's Piss Christ: “The first incident occurred when 51 year old John Allen Haywood took the photograph from the wall and kicked it....when asked what he would say to the artist who’s work he damaged, he eloquently replied ‘...I’d just like to punch him on the nose....The next day however, two teenagers, aged 18 and 16, were to have considerably more success in their endevour. In an orchestrated attack it was reported one teenager acted as a decoy, kicking a print on the opposite wall which distracted the guards who rushed to subdue him while the other SMASHED PISS CHRIST ABOUT 8 TIMES WITH A HAMMER...THE EXHIBITION WAS THEREAFTER SHORTLY CLOSED. THE CLOSURE OF THE EXHIBITION...CAUSED DEBATE ABOUT CENSORSHIP AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.” (source: http://renewal.va.com.au/artcrime/pages/serrano.html).

2. As for the play “Corpus Christi” by Terrence McNally, here I am quoting from an article by Michael Bronski: "After the Manhattan Theater Club announced last May that Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi would lead their fall schedule, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a national lay organization dedicated to defending 'the rights of Catholics to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination,' denounced the play and the production as 'offensive to Catholics and all Christians.' The Catholic League–never having read the script–screamed blasphemy in a crowded theater and it worked. THE MANHATTAN THEATER CLUB, AFTER RECEIVING ANONYMOUS THREATS TO FIRE BOMB THE THEATER, KILL THE STAFF, AND 'EXTERMINATE TERRENCE MCNALLY,' CANCELLED THE PRODUCTION. The lights dim as the specter of censorship and religious bigotry rises center stage. (source: http://www.zmag.org/ZMag/articles/nov98bronski.htm)

3. Oh, then there were those death threats against Martin Scorcese after the release of “The Last Temptation of Christ”. (Source: http://www.villagevoice.com/news/9823,goldstein,8963,1.html)

By the way, did I mention the firebombing of the Parisian theatre that Scorcese’s movie was shown in? Quoting from Wikipedia:
“On October 22, 1988, A FRENCH CATHOLIC FUNDAMENTALIST GROUP LAUNCHED MOLOTOV COCKTAILS INSIDE THE PARISIAN SAINT MICHEL MOVIE THEATER TO PROTEST AGAINST THE FILM PROJECTION. THIS TERRORIST ATTACK INJURED THIRTEEN PEOPLE; FOUR OUT OF THEM WERE SEVERELY BURNED.” (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Temptation_of_Christ)

So, here we go... Do I have to say more to prove you that how those civilized(!) Christians are good at(!) "tolerating" things that challenge the way they visualize/think about holy mary or jesus. Well, I don't think so ;-)

References:
“Art Crime - Piss Christ”. Oct 12, 1997. Available at http://renewal.va.com.au/artcrime/pages/serrano.html

Bronski, Michael. “Right Wing Nixes Gay Christ: When the First Amendment Fails”. Nov. 1998. Available at
http://www.zmag.org/ZMag/articles/nov98bronski.htm

Goldstein, Richard. “Body and Soul”. June 1998. Available at http://www.villagevoice.com/news/9823,goldstein,8963,1.html

“The Last Temptation of Christ”. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Temptation_of_Christ

Kevin 2/09/2006 04:41:00 PM  

Gosh Daphne,

Thanks for letting me know "really happened."

I'm sure, of course, that you see the difference between the acts of a few individuals acting with no coordination and tens of thousands of Muslims rioting through the streets threatening Westerners, burning embassies, and killing each other.

You do see that right? Nah, you probably don't.

Anonymous 2/09/2006 06:02:00 PM  

Queer conservative,
Violence is violence. It does not matter whether it is done individually or collectively, by a christian or a muslim. There is nothing that can justify the "threats or acts of violence" (whether they come from a group of christians as in Martin Scorcese’s and Terrence McNally’s cases or a group of muslims as in the current mohammad cartoon case). My examples aimed at showing that Christians, too are not good at tolerating things that challenge the way they visualize/think about holy mary or jesus. The same holds for the muslims. They are not good at it, either. Because, at its root it is "all about an attack on one’s values and beliefs”.

By the way, considering the reactions of the Christendom to the specified works of art, it think it is a right to argue that "if a Christian deserves to be respected for demanding not to see a holy figure as a whore or gay, a muslim also deserves to be respected for demanding not to see their prophet as a terrorist". Your comment?

Kevin 2/09/2006 06:28:00 PM  

Oh Daphne my dear, there is a huge difference between random acts of individual violence and a rampaging mob. Also, the individuals you mentioned are shunned and rebuked by our society. The Islamists encourge their culture of violence as a virtue.

Asked The Daphster: By the way, considering the reactions of the Christendom to the specified works of art, it think it is a right to argue that "if a Christian deserves to be respected for demanding not to see a holy figure as a whore or gay, a muslim also deserves to be respected for demanding not to see their prophet as a terrorist".

My response: In a free society one must learn to live with being offended. Honestly, it seems Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Shintoists, Sikhs, Jainists, Zoroastrians, Ba'hai, et. al. are able to do so. Muslims, not so much.

Would you change your way of life or censor your beliefs or actions in order to not offend a Muslim? What about a Christian?

Anonymous 2/21/2006 05:45:00 PM  

queer-con,
first off, 'nuff said about freaking a little too far out regarding a few cartoons. doesn't make sense, its not justified.

back to quantifying the religious over-reaction discussion you had with daphne. angry mob... ever hear of the crusades? never mind, the church apologised for them. how about public lynchings? you're probably not old enough to know you would have been the victim. (i'm 28 and i remember news regarding violence against gays... from religious extremists)

had more to say. but, i'm losing interest. hmmmm....

one other thing for dreamy weaver: don't know what religion you are, but jews and christians to name a few have just a little history of blood, sword, and beheading according to queercon its probably just unco-ordinated random acts of violence compared to rioting, killing, threatening, and burning.

j.

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