Just a question which I wanted to put out there based on a recent conversation I had last night. It seems that in a lot of countries, the laws give slightly more weight to protecting people's feelings over the right to voice one's own opinion. So for example, in Germany, there are relatively strict bans on free speech when it comes to neo-Nazis or holocaust revisionism (e.g. saying that only 3 million Jews died in the holocaust instead of 6 million). In other countries, there are laws against blasphemy. But in the US, both types of speech are likely to receive first amendment protection.
So my question is where Muslims should focus their efforts in terms of offensive speech in the US or the West. Every once in a while, we hear about this or that offensive website, or this or that offensive comment by an evangelical missionary or a neo-con or a shock dj. So should we try to use whatever influence we have to try to silence such speech (pre-emptively if possible). Or should we develop a thicker skin, expect people to go on saying offensive things, but then focus on counteracting speech with more speech, engage with the larger society; and try to develop more effective ways of putting a Muslim perspective out there.
To give an example of each approach:
A few months ago, a Swedish museum displayed a painting depicting a couple making love while covered in Quranic verses. There were protests against the painting and it was eventually removed (silenced)
When the 1998 movie The Siege came out (It was about how the acts of terrorists in New York led to Muslims/Arabs being put in interment camps) instead of calling for protests against the movie, a mosques and Islamic centers started having open houses.
In the long run, can we afford trying to silence everyone with a mean thing to say about Islam?
1 comment:
You are welcome. Glad to be of help
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