Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Pig Heads

I have had an ongoing discussion via my comment box about a recent article that talks about a pig's head being rolled into the midst of praying Muslims. I found it funny and make no apologies about it. I frequently find things funny that 90% of the population would never consider laughing at. That is just the way I'm put together. This isn't the first time I've been called into question about something I have (seemingly inappropriately) laughed at.

However, the discussion has some valid points on each side:


It's really offensive. Nobody laughs at swastikas spray-painted on synagogues. Why are Muslims suddenly okay to make fun of? Because a small number of them committed terrorist acts, it makes it okay to insult the ones who are praying?

This was the partial response to that:


I find it very ironic that a faith that has no qualms whatsoever about strapping a bomb to itself and blowing up hundreds of innocent bystanders, along with themselves, would run screaming from the room at the sight of a pig head.

The Response........?


All groups (religious, ethnic, etc.) have their zealous few who go well past the line of decency and commit atrocious acts. Do we paint them all with the same brush?

Have you heard about the Japanese internment camps during World War Two? This was where Americans and Canadians of Japanese descent had their property and possessions taken away from them, and they were holed up in concentration camps. These were not enemy sympathizers, they were simply born in the wrong country.

After Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City, did we suddenly rush to condemn anyone who had ever spoken out against the government, ever?

When a couple of kids shot up Columbine High School, did we suddenly become suspicious of all teenagers and lock down all the homes that had children age 13 to 18 in them?

It's just to wrong to tar and feather an entire group of mostly peace-loving people, when the acts were carried out by a small number of them and condemned by the rest of the group.
Actually, having lived near Oklahoma City at the time of the OKC bombing, I have to respond to the Timothy McVeigh comment. Yes, in my neck of the woods, at that time anyone who spoke out against the government was automatically under suspicion. It is a gut reaction and involuntary reflex of a group of people who have been traumatized by someone or something.


"You said there is not enough being done by their own to put a stop to it, what exactly do you suggest they are capable of doing that law enforcement officials are not already doing??"

Radical Muslims have proven that laws have no meaning to them, but they will listen to their Muslim leaders. For the most part the Muslim leaders are encouraging their actions. There are a rare few who timidly speak up against what is being carried out, but from what I have seen these few have not gotten enough support to be a true voice of the Muslim faith.

We can have an ongoing debate about this.. but mostly I think it is Americans who are Muslim targets. I have yet to see a Canadian flag being burned, Canadian citizens being targeted or anyone chanting "Death to Canada." If that ever happens you may see more clearly where the attitude comes from.

The response.....


The part I don't get is that you have THIS one group of Muslims over here who are horrible evil terrorists and deserve to be punished or worse, but instead you go after THAT other group of Muslims over there who have not done anything wrong and are simply peacefully praying when you go and roll a pig's head into their mosque. What did THEY ever do??

Honestly, I don't think that the U.S. is in any danger from 99%+ of its Muslim population!

I will not speculate as to why Americans seem to be a target. I will say that is neither deserved nor random.

I would be extremely interested to hear from a true Muslim. I cannot answer for anyone of the Muslim faith, and perhaps I have been too harsh in my judgment, it wouldn't be the first time. I will be the first to say I'm wrong if it comes to that, but until then......

Thanks to Sassan for the very interesting discussion.

10 comments:

mark robert allen said...

hmmmm.... that's an interesting and complex discussion subject. we could devote an entire blog just to the ins and outs of that.

i think the only problem here is that you are a kooky person with a warped humour.

but... erm, yeah, like i said, this could just keep going on and on and on...

Odat said...

I've found myself in hot water too for having a sick sense of humor. I don't mean to be disrespectful, I only seek to be funny and since it's usually a spontaneous thing the results of my spoutings are not considered beforehand. Its just my way.....and I think it's a good thing to open an dialog on it, sometimes we need others to be our mirror and vice versa. The only thing I hope for is that I'll continue to keep an open mind.

curmudgeon said...

"It's just to wrong to tar and feather an entire group of mostly peace-loving people, when the acts were carried out by a small number of them and condemned by the rest of the group."
Call me brazen, but fuck 'em. I find it hard to believe that a religion who believes that anyone NOT like them should die, is such a peace-loving people. If they were such a peace-loving people, they would be doing more to reduce the number of the non-peace-loving people and try to restore peace to their lives. In the meantime, it's the non-peace-loving people who are trying to kill people ALL OVER THE GODDAMN WORLD and we should not become the least complacent.

And then there are the those who are too oversensitive for their own good.

Anyway, I'm afraid I have the same twisted sense of humor. I laugh at someone who trips and falls on their ass. But then I would also help them up. I also laugh at someone who slams their finger in the door. Then I would offer up a band-aid. And I would ROTFLMAO at a roomfull of over-religious nutballs tripping all over each other running from a room with a pig head rolling around on the floor. I would then ask them if they needed a roll of toilet paper.

Sassan Sanei said...

"a religion who believes that anyone NOT like them should die"

a common misconception

Sassan Sanei said...

"they would be doing more to reduce the number of the non-peace-loving people and try to restore peace to their lives."

Here's one example:

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/07/13/terror--plot.html

Deb said...

Do you truly not expect this guy to have some major repurcussions from this? What he did was great, but one person is not going to stop the violent ways of radical Muslims.

I really do hope the guy in that article avoids any major backlash from what he did.

I wish we were all that brave.

Sassan Sanei said...

That's right, I do not expect him to have any repercussions or backlash from his actions, major or minor. If anything he is being hailed as a hero -- by members of his own community.

But why am I not surprised that someone would say that they should be doing something, then when presented with evidence that they are, would respond that it's not enough. No offence, but TYPICAL.

Deb said...

I wasn't implying that he would get backlash from the non-muslim community. It is the muslims that I would think would be pissed off at the guy.

But you are absolutely right about one thing. One person doing this is not enough. If it were we would never have to worry about anyone muslim ever pulling another September 11, would we.

As far as your "typical" comment goes, I have seen your opinions on christians and christianity. It is no different. If a christian had ran a plane into a building full of people in the name of their god, do you think you would be sitting there quietly?

I doubt it.

Sassan Sanei said...

I understood that you meant backlash from the Muslim community. The guy is a "devout Muslim" himself according to the article.

Where? Where have I ever expressed any such opinion on Christians or Christianity? When have I ever attacked one person because of the actions of another person? If such an event occurred, I would not be blaming all Christians for it, nor would I be defacing a church or attacking random innocent people praying inside one and think it's funny.

I am also outraged at the Muslims who flew a plane into those buildings. I cried and cried for a long time at the thought of all those people in the planes and buildings being so unimaginably terrified before they died. It was a horrible thing to do. But I don't go and blame other innocent people for their actions just because they also happen to be Muslim!

Deb said...

Sassan my love, I am going to let you have the last word on this subject for 3 reasons: 1) You are by far much more intelligent than me and having this argument makes my head hurt (lol); 2) You are starting to use exclamation marks, which is scary; and 3) I don't want you to be pissed off at me and de-link me so I will bow to your superiority.

Hugs pal.. still friends?

;-)