Punk Protest, Bad Video Art, and “Religious Insult”
by Irina Papkova there’s an eerie similarity between the reaction of some Orthodox believers to Pussy Riot and the worldwide protests against “Innocence of Muslims.” Continue Reading →
Tag: human rights
The Trouble With "Religious Hatred"
By Austin Dacey Opponents of hate speech laws contend that there is no evidence to suggest that the state can successfully bring about ethical behavior by the force of law. Bigotry is flourishing across Europe, for example, despite its robust hate speech laws. Continue Reading →
The Trouble With “Religious Hatred”
By Austin Dacey Opponents of hate speech laws contend that there is no evidence to suggest that the state can successfully bring about ethical behavior by the force of law. Bigotry is flourishing across Europe, for example, despite its robust hate speech laws. Continue Reading →
A Human Right to Blaspheme?
by Austin Dacey Do you have a human right to blaspheme? Ask a philosopher and you may get two different answers. Continue Reading →
Calvin’s Geneva? The New International Discourse of Blasphemy
By Austin Dacey The Ad Hoc Committee on the Elaboration of Complementary Standards was meeting to address “gaps” in an international human rights treaty on racism and racial discrimination. Continue Reading →
Calvin's Geneva? The New International Discourse of Blasphemy
By Austin Dacey The Ad Hoc Committee on the Elaboration of Complementary Standards was meeting to address “gaps” in an international human rights treaty on racism and racial discrimination. Continue Reading →
What Are Religious Human Rights?
Nora Connor: Water cooler talk around The Revealer offices keeps circling back to human rights these days (yes, we are a rock-and-roll lot). As in, what are they? Who gets to say what they are, and when and where? Are they “real” in themselves, out there in reality somewhere, waiting their turn to step forward, or are they a bit more ephemeral? And why does human rights language often leave us confused?
A November 15th press release from the New York- and D.C.-based NGO Human Rights First neatly illustrates some of these conundrums while flagging a concrete change in legal human rights discourse. A resolution on combating religious intolerance was adopted by a U.N. committee without previously-favored language emphasizing that states are obligated to adopt and enforce laws against the defamation of religions. Continue Reading →
Preparing to Fight the Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Truth Wins Out takes the time to note contact information for senators and representatives as well as Ugandan officials affiliated with The Family and the “Kill the Gays” bill in Uganda. A vote, according to TWO’s Wayne Bresen is slated for some time after January 18th.
For more, read Warren Throckmorton here. Continue Reading →
Multiculturalism gave us Jihad
In his review of Kenan Malik’s From Fatwa to Jihad: The Rushdie Affair and Its Aftermath, Dan Margolis argues that tolerance for other faiths and cultures — multiculturalism — has prevented liberals from successfully working for or even believing in absolute human rights. Posted at Guernica:
Of course, most Muslims are not terrorists, so the question arises: Who becomes a terrorist and why? We know that most of these people have been well off, at least middle class, and well educated. According to Malik, the separation foisted by multiculturalism provided fertile ground for identity politics, mixed with a culture of grievance, to grow into jihadist terror. Young people in the “Muslim community,” instead of fighting racism—how could one fight against inequality when the whole idea of a cohesive society was out the window?—found themselves fighting against their parents’ version of Islam; in short, the rebelled by becoming more pious, more “Islamic” than anyone else.