Finding the balance between Freedom of Speech and being considerate of people with different values

Wow, that’s a long title.  But I really feel that it’s important to take some time and really examine this issue in greater detail.  I’m thinking, of course, of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in France and the response around the world.  At the very least, violence on that scale (or any scale) is not the answer, and I’m not condoning that.  There is definitely something that worries people in the west about the response of some Muslim people to the insults that are part of modern life.  We look at the religion we are members of (or no religion), and think they are over-reacting.  Of course we disagree about the violence, but I’m trying to get at the fact that their feeling of offense and outrage over this kind of thing is foreign to western society.  At least for modern western society.  We think it’s strange for them to get so upset over a cartoon.  But that’s not really taking them seriously as people.

One scholar has said, “But you know, I’m not sure if the type of response that we have seen as of late, regarding depictions of the Prophet has to do with the depictions themselves or whether it’s about the negative depictions. My hunch is that it has a lot more to do with the negativity associated with the depictions and the message that they’re sending as opposed to the actual depiction itself. Let’s say for the sake of argument that somebody drew a picture that they said was the Prophet Muhammad, and it was actually very positive, and there was no malicious intent behind it and it was actually conveying a positive message; I find it hard to think that there would be the same type outcry.” -- Imam Sikander Hashmi

So although modern Christians wouldn’t be upset with depictions of Christ, people surely were very upset in the past when artists portrayed important Christian figures in negative ways (Piss Christ, for example).  Christianity has a long history of enforcing respect for the prophets or saints with violence.  I think we are a little hypocritical for judging the Muslims for taking depictions of the prophet Mohammed so seriously. 

So how can we be respectful of people who take their religion seriously while protecting everyone else?  It’s a big question and I don’t have the answer.  I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell the satirists of the world that they can’t depict any Islamic prophet in a negative light, especially if they are in a country where the majority of people are not Muslims, and aren’t offended by the depictions.  But at the same time, there are certainly other subjects for images that are not acceptable in western society.  You can’t get away with showing Jewish folks in a caricature like they were depicted before WWII; you can’t depict racist stereotypes of African-Americans or Native Americans without suffering serious backlash.

Maybe that’s a solution.  Don’t legislate what is acceptable speech, but expect there to be consequences when media goes too far.  The issue with depictions of Mohammed is that not enough people would reject an organization that published negative images of Islam because of the world we live in and the perception of the people and the religion.  Many people I think are happy to try to provoke Muslims so they can feel superior about how they are getting all worked up over nothing. 

Let me know what you think.  It’s important to discuss this topic until we get somewhere, I think.

Eric Garner

Sometimes I feel like what’s the point about talking about this issue anymore.  The issue of police violence against poor people, especially brown people.  But how can I just sit by and not call out what I see? 

Eric Garner’s case seems to be the most clear-cut of the ones we have seen recently.  His “crime” was selling loose cigarettes.  You can argue about whether that should be a crime or not, but you can’t argue he was not engaged in anything violent.  He didn’t attack the police; he just expressed frustration with being arrested again.  Why is this an offense that requires arrest anyway?  Can’t they just fine him?  There’s no violence, no theft. 

We have a video, so we know what happened.  There’s no question regarding the behavior of the police or Mr. Garner.  In the Mike Brown case, you can wonder if he really reached into the police car as the police claimed, and we know (pretty certainly) that he shoved that clerk at the convenience store.  There’s no video to show if he was coming toward the officer or not.  But in the case of Mr. Garner, there is no question.  They choked him to death because he didn’t want to be arrested.  And because he was a large black man, which means dangerous, no matter what he does. 

And now he’s dead.  I think sometimes when we see these news stories so often, we forget he doesn’t get to go on.  His family doesn’t get to see him at family dinners and holidays.  He doesn’t get to contribute his perspective to society.  It’s over for him.  And no consequences for the police officers who killed him.  What message do you think that sends to other people who have interactions with the NYPD?  Do they trust them to protect their rights? 

Christmas? Bah Humbug!

Not sure what to call this one.  Maybe just to say I’m really not feeling the Christmas spirit at all this year.  I’ve been wondering why, and part of it is that it’s up to me to work on getting Christmas traditions going.  Kent & I have never really had a big Christmas production.  The first few years we decorated and gave each other presents, and my sister’s kids were little, so we got them gifts.  But one by one, we have just eliminated people we have to buy for until it would have been just us.  And then we started waiting until the after-Christmas saks, and lately, we just get something we really want whenever we see it, and that’s the birthday or Christmas present that year. 

We saved a lot of money we don’t have, and it made the holiday season way less stressful.  But now I find myself kind of sad around Christmas time.  Everyone else is traveling to see family, and having parties, and shopping.  I am just not a part of any of those things, and I kind of miss them. 

I think I am also a little disappointed in the whole “reason for the season” slogan.  After all, there’s lots of evidence that Jesus wasn’t really born in December, and how does Santa and Christmas trees celebrate that anyway?  But the biggest problem I can see is that the birth of Jesus isn’t really the most important event.  I mean how about his ministry?  The cross?  The idea of the incarnation is a momentous thing, I guess, but I don’t know if it’s important to celebrate the birthdate.  Maybe I’m just feeling a bit of the old bah-humbug. 

Maybe it’s time for me to really think about why the birth of Jesus matters to me.  It is amazing that God would take on our likeness, but to be honest, I am not sure that really happened.  I know that would shock a lot of people, but it doesn’t seem to me like the whole gospel doesn’t really hang on weather Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  I think what matters is the love he showed for us and the way we are supposed to love each other.  Jesus said that if we have seen him, we have seen the father.  And when I look at Jesus, I see love and compassion for people.  That’s what I want to hold on to at Christmas time.  I am not interested in spending tons of money I don’t have on people who already have what they need.  Maybe I need to think of some way to share that love at this time of the year.

Victim Blaming

I will admit that I am trying to get people interested in my blog by sometimes writing about controversial things.  But I think if we don’t talk about these problems, they will never get better.

So, this topic is in the news lately.  Between the unarmed black men (and children) being shot by police, and the rape victims being slut-shamed, it seems our media is obsessed with explaining away these things without admitting that our system isn’t working and that the powers that be are corrupt.

We can never move forward in reconciling victims and perpetrators until we can talk about the things that happened truthfully.  One of the justice concerns I have regarding the incarceration of so many people is that it doesn’t really help victims or the people responsible for the hurt.  It may help society in the sense that people who commit crimes are not free to keep committing them while they are imprisoned.  But we know that many people become much harder criminals during their time in prison.  When they are released, they are more likely to commit more violent crimes than if they were treated for problems. (see: http://www.prisonfellowship.ca/resources/issues-statistics/)

Quite often, victims and their families want things like to know what really happened, or to make the person understand their hurt.  Of course there are people who just want them executed, but not everyone feels closure over that. 

And when we imprison children, with no access to a “normal” life, they grow up to be exactly the thugs we expect them to be.  It’s one thing to try and rehabilitate a 40 year old person who has assaulted many people over their adult life.  It’s another thing to give up on a kid who’s 14 and never had adults teach him about how to interact in the world.  No chance to get a decent education.  Lost his brothers or sisters to violence.  Police don’t protect people like that.  The justice system doesn’t do a good job of protecting them either. 

To me, the hard part would be figuring out how to protect victims and potential victims while still treating people who have committed crimes as human and redeemable.  As a Christian, or a person who believes in God/gods/cosmic love, etc. it is difficult to justify writing people off when God seems to be making the point over and over again in the Bible that he doesn’t give up on us.  He wants people to be redeemed and become the full person they are created to be.  Some people are so damaged they are dangerous, that’s true.  But a lot of criminals are just a product of the system we abide. 

Why do we accept this system?  This is a bigger topic than I can do in one blog post, but I’m not just talking about the justice system; I’m talking about the inequality between rich and poor that leaves too many people lost in hopelessness where they can’t eat, can’t learn, can’t support themselves with work.  Why aren’t we trying to solve those problems?  Do we really believe that some people deserve that childhood because their parents are messed up? 

What do you think?

Making Peace

I have been struggling to understand what God expects of us regarding “being peacemakers” for a few years now.  I know that Jesus says a lot about peacemaking (Matt 5:42-44, Luke 6:26-28, 35-36, etc.).  In fact, the whole bible is full of commands and encouragements and examples of how to make peace.  But those stories either seem way too hard to do, or not meaningful to me. 

Lately I have been listening to others who find themselves on this path towards living at peace in the world.  Buddhists seem to have a lot of wisdom about this topic.  I have a friend who often shares the wisdom she draws from her religion. 

The struggle I have is not so much to respond in anger when people hurt me or treat me poorly; I struggle more with my attitude and with trying not to cause problems or pain for others.  The person I interact with most is my husband, and there are some examples I can draw on that I think we can all relate to.  For example, sometimes he wants to do watch a movie together or go out some place that we would both enjoy.  He is motivated by his love for me and his interest in the movie or speaker.  However, sometimes I want to do something else.  Not something bad, but something that only benefits me (play a video game, watch a movie he wouldn’t enjoy); and I try to get my way.  At that moment I am not thinking about peace; I am only thinking about doing what I want.

The question I have is: when is it OK to pursue my own desires and when should I be willing to give?  I mean, Jesus and the Bible make it sound like we should always be making peace with people.  So does that mean I can state my preference, but I should give in if it seems like someone would be hurt?  Or does it only mean not returning violence with violence?  But how do you define violence? 

Or is God only talking about systemic violence?  I know that shooting unarmed people, regardless of race, is wrong.  In the old days, I’m pretty sure the police would try to arrest someone instead of shoot them.  Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s what I think.  And the capitalist system we currently have, with so few protections for workers and consumers is certainly hurting and even killing people.  Millions of children and elderly people are hungry, that seems like a form of violence when so many other people have enough food to throw a lot of it away. 

What do you think is expected of us?