Don’t get me wrong as you read this. I deplore the recent
terrorism in France (and Australia, Nigeria, etc). It is tragic and
unacceptable; it is evil. It is the very thing Jesus came to call humanity away
from. My heart goes out to the French nation for what they and the rest of the
world are facing.
Yet, I have to admit to being uncomfortable with the whole
rhetoric around freedom of speech that seems to lie at the heart of the western
narrative of response. Freedom of speech is great, as long as the free are
singing your tune. How far does freedom of speech take us when it includes the “right”
to mock anyone for their race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion, etc.? We
may like freedom of speech, but it haves consequences.
One of the reasons that these terrorists are rising up,
whether it be North Korean hackers, or Jihadists in Sydney or France, is the
flippantness of the west. Freedom of speech supposedly means you can mock Muhammad
(or any other religion and political system) in cartoons. Such “freedom” fails
to acknowledge how important Muhammad is to many people in our world. Mocking Muhammad
attacks the foundation of the mindset of the devout Muslim. Similarly,
Sony Pictures think nothing of ridiculing the leader of another nation and
making a movie about a couple of American twats killing him. While I deplore
the regime, he is an important person to the North Koreans. Perhaps the
west needs to think carefully about its so-called “freedom of speech”
perspective realising that yes, one can make such movies and cartoons, but one
is deeply offending the other in so doing.
How about someone makes a movie about killing Obama and a
couple of clumsy North Koreans set about doing so. Or, they make cartoons
mocking gays, women, the gun lobby, African Americans (perhaps using the N
word), American supremacy, or Jews. Is that ok? Is the rest of the world free
to do this? After all, people lose their jobs in the west for their freedom of
speech if it includes mocking some of the above mentioned. This may not lead to
Jihadism, but it will certainly offend. We may be free to speak, but they are
free to respond.
A couple of biblical themes spring to mind. One is that
freedom from a Christian perspective is a freedom that is governed by love
(e.g. Rom 14-15; 2 Cor 8). Such a love includes respecting the other and not
mocking and ridiculing them, no matter how different or even silly they may
seem. The west needs to think about this and show a lot more respect to people
of other viewpoints. I don’t like despotic leaders but I have enough respect
not to make a stupid movie directly mocking the North Korean leader. Similarly,
while I am not a Muslim, I see no need to offend them whether it be in cartoons
or whatever. There are other way to change the world.
The second theme is mocking. Psalm 1:1 warns the reader not
to “sit in the seat of mockers.” Humour is great, and political correctness
drives many of us up the wall. Yet, when we know something is of deep
significance to others, we need to think carefully about exercising our
so-called freedom. Yes, we should be free to say what we think, but we need to
realise that the tongue is powerful and will lead to response. And the world is
free to respond even if we don’t like it.
I despise Jihadism and all forms of the use of violent
retribution; yet, I am increasingly uncomfortable with western arrogance. I
think we need listen to the Psalmist and show a bit more respect to people
who are different from us.
Comments
1) For those Christians who say that we are better than the Muslims because we are not violent, perhaps they should take a wider view of history than just the 20th and 21st Centuries. Between 5 - 15.5 million were killed in the Thirty Years War (1618-48) and the French Wars of Religion(1562-98) between Protestants and Catholics compared to 1-3 million during the Crusades (Christian vs Muslim)
2) In Church and Society in Asia Today Vol 13 No 2 August (2010) Dr John Azumah notes that Islam is a very contextualised religion and there are geopolitical issues associated with the incidences of violence.
3) Unlike the West, Islam has never had a period like the Enlightenment of the 18th Century and does not have the same separation of secular and sacred.
I am aware that I have moved slightly off the topic of free speech, But these things need to be said.
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