Freedom of speach - Double standards?

[meedo]

Editor threatened over Jesus defecation poster
Published: 8 Mar 08 12:10 CET
Online: thelocal.se/10352/

The editor of a Swedish newspaper has received death threats for publishing a picture of Jesus being defecated on by the devil.

Östgöta Correspondenten editor Ola Sigvardsson has received several death threats since the publication of the picture, which featured on posters for a punk festival. The poster depicted a Satan figure defecating on Jesus.

Linköping city council had previously censured the festival poster.

The newspaper published the picture last Saturday and it sparked a vigorous debate on its homepage. On Thursday however the discussions became more threatening and Sigvardsson received the first of several telephone calls involving death threats.

Sigvardsson has, among other things, been threatened with having his throat cut.

“I was mostly confounded,” Sigvardsson said.

Sigvardsson admitted that he realized that publishing the picture would be controversial, but he underlined that the censured picture addresses the issue of freedom of speech and it was therefore important to run the story.’’’

Hello All,

many people from western countries say that freedom of speach sanction things like offensive immages against religious figures, specially against muslims.

but the above shows that there were really not much of a fuss when there was censorship in regards to insults not directed against muslims.

Dont you think it is double standards? focousre as a muslim i woudl never want jesus to be insulted and if i had a say , i actually back the censiorship decision in that case , but why then when it comes to the danish cartoons all the world go up in flames when muslims want cesnsorship?

best regards

Meedo

 

[Contarini]

No doubt Christians are guilty of some double standards. However, by and large the double standard here is the other way round. This was an obscure incident and the threats were purely local. Christians did not riot and attack non-Christians all over the world because of this. Most Christians would wholeheartedly condemn the threats. And there’s no evidence that the editor withdrew or apologized for the images.

You’re absolutely right that we need to make sure we are consistent. We Christians often fail in this and need to be reminded. However, the world as a whole is far more tolerant of anti-Christian than of anti-Muslim images, precisely because Christians today (this was not true in the past) are far less violent in their response to insult.

Edwin

 

[rpp]

I will comment after I see how many people Christian protesters kill in world-wide protests that will go on for months. I will also comment each time a Muslim cleric or innocent Swede is killed by a Christian protesting the poster and the subsequent publication in the newspaper.

I will probably comment when I see how many countries slap an embargo on Swedish goods.

You can guarantee that I will comment when the Pope issues a Papal Bull calling for the assassination of the artist, the reporter, and the newspaper publisher.

I cannot comment on the insane reactions of a single individual or whether the death threats actually even really happened.

 

[love4mary]

It is bad enough that such a poster be made in the first place, and to publish it in the name of “free speech” just automatically will incur angry responses, is equally as wrong.

Whether it be a poster of Jesus, or any other faiths god(s), it serves no purpose other then to spread hate and insults.

Respect should be shown to ALL faiths. I do NOT worship the many gods of Hindu (or any other faith), but I will never insult the Hindu people (or any others) by desecrating something(one) that they hold dear and sacred.

 

[Naztakuan]

It is bad enough that such a poster be made in the first place, and to publish it in the name of “free speech” just automatically will incur angry responses, is equally as wrong.

Whether it be a poster of Jesus, or any other faiths god(s), it serves no purpose other then to spread hate and insults.

Respect should be shown to ALL faiths. I do NOT worship the many gods of Hindu (or any other faith), but I will never insult the Hindu people (or any others) by desecrating something(one) that they hold dear and sacred.

I second that. There should be a certain degree of Mutual respect. I was in Japan for a few months and most Japanes are either Shinto or Buddhist. We visited alot of temples. may not be shinto or Buddhist, but I always respected their temples. Like some temples where they have the “living Buddhas” Are amazing and the first impulse is to take a photograph but out of respect for such revered people in their community, None of us did so. It’s all about respect.

 

[seekerz]

The double standards are such that if this poster had insulted Islam rather than Christianity, I wouldn’t have had to search through our new forum posts to find it - it would on the news the world over, if you know what I mean…

And just look what we’re discussing, not our anger/hurt over an abomination, but whether we treat others whose faiths are insulted, equally. Maybe Christ did accomplish something in us after all, that at a time when we might have been popping cerebral blood vessels in outrage, we are amenable to discussing respect for all faiths.

 

[Gisella]

I think this is protected by free speech the same way the Muhammed cartoons were. Both are offensive to many, but there is nothing unlawful about offending others. There is no right to not be offended. However, there is most certainly a right for those offended to respond. The beauty of it is that free speech goes both ways. NO ONE has the right to respond with violence though. This is where Christian and Muslim responses often differ.