Why can't muslims just f*ck off and stop being offended?

[karadan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7679151.stm

Seriosly, i hate this sort of pandering. Why are people afraid to say what they feel these days? I'm not sure how offending muslims would negatively effect the sales of this game. I'm sure anyone who wants to buy it, still will even if there are some lyrics taken from the Koran.

I really hate the way people bow down so much to these islamic bullies.

[curiosityandthecat]

Same reason we won't just f*ck off and stop being offended.

At some point in time, everyone started to believe that we have an inalienable right to not be offended or put up with people we don't like. We do not, nor have will, nor will we ever have that right.

[Asmodean]

I agree with Catwords.

If I made a game in which Holocaust was denied, I'd risk getting angry e-mails, threats and possibly even release delays/bans too. In Europe at least. That is just an example to illustrate that all cultures and societies (or almost all) have some sort of a tabu-area where the freedom of speech and/or expression does not seem to apply or be respected.

Personally, I think people just need to learn to get over it but... They never will.

[Mister Joy]

Well 'freedom of speech' is very vague and ought to be confined within certain boundaries, I suppose. If the press, for instance, had full "freedom of speech" then that would give them freedom to lie (not that they don't already excersise that to some degree). It would also give them more freedom for corporate bias. Imagine if all new broadcasts, papers and websites were as bad as Fox, if not worse.

Although, the concept of "hate crimes" grinds my gears a little. Saying something like "all muslims are fanatical, bullying, sexist suicide bombers hell bent on world domination" would be incredibly hateful and stupid but it should still be within our rights. Just as muslims should have the right to reply with something equally ridiculous like "atheists are evil, primative dip-shits with bad breath! A means of identifying them at birth should be found so we can cull the bad genes before they get a chance to multiply!" If they actually went on to try and instigate such a suggestion, then there'd be problems.

I wonder if the next major newspeak expression could be 'love crimes'. Where you're not allowed to compliment or praise certain groups at the risk of offending others.

Picture a live BBC reporter, ten years from now: "Say, aren't Shintoists and pagans just brilliant! Hold on, what's that rumbling sound in the distance? Is it... yes! I'm about to get buried alive in an avalanche of angry letters from Abrahamic zealots! And it looks like the armoured police are here, kicking down the front doors and tear gassing innocent bystanders under the increasingly all-encompassing 'terrorism act'. Oh well, guess that's my career and family life over."

[Shalo'zier]

This is bullshit. ANY book ever written, or any song ever written, could have a Koranic verse in it, either explicitly, or made in inadvertently.

It's sad to see what lengths free speech has been destroyed.

[rlrose328]

The Islamic world won't HAVE to fight us to take over and turn us all Muslim.  All they have to do is keep us afraid... afraid of using words from the Koran in music, afraid of doing a political cartoon about Islam, afraid of naming a teddy bear Mohammad.

If we don't stand for our freedom to do these things even if it offends them, we deserve what we get.

[Martian]

It's really sad when the bullies win.

[Kyuuketsuki]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7679151.stm

Seriosly, i hate this sort of pandering. Why are people afraid to say what they feel these days? I'm not sure how offending muslims would negatively effect the sales of this game. I'm sure anyone who wants to buy it, still will even if there are some lyrics taken from the Koran.

I really hate the way people bow down so much to these islamic bullies.

This isn't so much about political correctness, it's more about money ... the manufacturer's will lose a lot of cash if the game went ahead as it was. Why? I assume because there are many people in Muslim countries who might also buy the game.

In principle though, yeah, I agree ... I don't think people should insult others just to be abusive and I'm not sure entertainment should go out of its way to abuse others BUT I do not now and never will condone satire, critiques and similar being toned down or banned in favour of any one groups views (even atheists), in principle I believe in the right to freedom of speech as long as others understand that THEIR right to FoS implicitly means that they have the responsibility to ENSURE the same right for others. The possession of a "right" is meaningless unless that same right (and corresponding ones) is guaranteed to others.

Kyu

[Frostitute]

Its same with Gays and Lesbians. If you crack a gay joke, they get all serious and say "Oh yeah, you homophobe, whats wrong with being gay?". Its really annoying.
"If they can take a dick, they can take a joke"-Carlos Mencia.

[Will]

I can understand that there are certain times when it might be appropriate for a Muslim to become offended, but they lost a lot of my support when there was such outrage over the inappropriate political cartoons featuring Mohammad. I understand perfectly that it's a sin to have a picture of Mohammad. I understand that it's about keeping the attention on Alah. It's unacceptable to threaten someone's life or incite violence over a cartoon. It was deeply shameful and inexcusable, and those involved should consider themselves responsible in part for the way the West sees Islam.

Otherwise, it seems an issue of being impoverished and imbattled. Arab countries have been in the midst of some rather terrible circumstances for a while, and in extreme situations people tend to cling to religion as a last bastion of hope (and if it wasn't religion I have no doubt that it'd be some other ideology, probably political). It's no wonder that Islam is used to rally terrorism, really. And because of the state of the Middle East I have trouble with thinking in black and white terms when it comes to blame.

[curiosityandthecat]

...in extreme situations people tend to cling to religion as a last bastion of hope ...

Watch out, the McCain/Palin campaign might attack you for saying people cling to their religion in dire situations.  

[Kyuuketsuki]

Its same with Gays and Lesbians. If you crack a gay joke, they get all serious and say "Oh yeah, you homophobe, whats wrong with being gay?". Its really annoying.
"If they can take a dick, they can take a joke"-Carlos Mencia.

I'm gonna have to (probably) disagree because personally I don't find jokes based purely on being gay funny any more than I find jokes based purely on being non-white or a woman funny ... religious humour is funny because religion is f***ing dumb, and I don't mind jokes about gays, race or sex if the humour is based on something genuinely funny and clever but if, as most of it seems to be, it's based on just being gay then I'd find it dubious.

Don't get me wrong ... I don't give a damn about political correctness, I do say, "backs against the walls boys" when talking about gay men, but something about some humour just seems to go too far and I don't know quite where the line is or should be drawn.

Kyu

[Frostitute]

Its same with Gays and Lesbians. If you crack a gay joke, they get all serious and say "Oh yeah, you homophobe, whats wrong with being gay?". Its really annoying.
"If they can take a dick, they can take a joke"-Carlos Mencia.

I'm gonna have to (probably) disagree because personally I don't find jokes based purely on being gay funny any more than I find jokes based purely on being non-white or a woman funny ... religious humour is funny because religion is f***ing dumb, and I don't mind jokes about gays, race or sex if the humour is based on something genuinely funny and clever but if, as most of it seems to be, it's based on just being gay then I'd find it dubious.

Don't get me wrong ... I don't give a damn about political correctness, I do say, "backs against the walls boys" when talking about gay men, but something about some humour just seems to go too far and I don't know quite where the line is or should be drawn.

Kyu

I totally agree with you, the jokes can go to a certain extent, but when you just crack a LITTLE joke, it goes into a huge uproar.

[Asmodean]

I'm gonna have to (probably) disagree because personally I don't find jokes based purely on being gay funny any more than I find jokes based purely on being non-white or a woman funny ...

[Teal'c]Indeed.[/Teal'c]

religious humour is funny because religion is f***ing dumb, and I don't mind jokes about gays, race or sex if the humour is based on something genuinely funny and clever but if, as most of it seems to be, it's based on just being gay then I'd find it dubious.

Double indeed.

[quizlixx]

you guys should check out pat condells video on youtube about this