Recently I wrote of the Da Vinci uproar and how the church should lighten up. Thats a pretty consistent theme with me as I find zealotry in any faith to be jackasine, but it got me thinking.
Let's suppose that the Catholic movement took to the streets to burn flags with Tom Hanks image or string Opie up in effigy to protest this movie. As much as the thought of a Million Plaid Mini-Skirt Catholic School Girl March appeals to me, my first hand knowledge of Catholic education/military tactics and the modus operandi of thee nunery makes me recognize that the Sisters Wit Bad Habits are not to be trifled with. Imagine a horde of flying nuns armed with no more than their wooden rulers of terror wrecking havoc on the streets of this country and abroad smacking knuckles left and right until the world recognizes their might....and their right to religious freedom..aka the right to censor what they deem offensive to their faith.
You may think Im crazy but I went to Catholic school and its not as far fetched as you may think, I recall getting smacked as a wee lad by Sister Margaret Thatcher I meant Sister Margaret Patrick and being called a devil worshiper. My crime? Carrying a copy of Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter.
Back to my point, or lack there of. If this scenario were to play out, would Nick At Nite refuse to air re-runs of Bosom Buddies to avoid the risk of offending those bingo loving Catholics? Would nations boycott Aunt Bee's apple pie to punish Ron Howard for his involvement in such overt blasphemy. Probaly not. And justly so. Well thats what happened in a matter of speaking with the recent Mohammed comics and the riots that followed, and that shiite aint right.
Appeasement never works and maniacal zealotry should never be rewarded, but this brings me back to something that always struck me as bigotry of convenience. I remember years back there was a big hub (and probaly rightly so) about the portrayal of black folk in the cartoon Tom and Jerry so what they actually did was go back and change the voices (usually a southern accent replaced by a more northern urban voice) and in some instances the skin color in skits. The reason I bring this up is I dont recall them ever changing the voice of the Irish maid or the big dumb Donkey cop. Im not using this example to make some social commentary about race, rather to point out that its open season on some groups and others are off limits.
In this case its the Catholic Church. Ive got no problem with this movie and I might even go see it, if I hear theres plenty of gratuitous nudity and lots of explosions, but let me get this straight before I end my donkatribe, Muslim bashing bad but Catholic bashing good. The media's reaction to both stories sure leads me to believe thats the case.
I guess what Im trying to say or ask is...is it just that some groups are more sensitive (in the case of Mohammed jockeys...homicidal) than others or is it true that the squeaky wheel gets the grease*?
*yes that was an italian slur
7 comments:
excellent, excellent editorial el guapo donkey.
sister margaret patrick, i'm sure, is glowing with pride (well, maybe not, since pride is a mortal sin ... and, of course, only under the condition that you've finally ceased your devil-worshipping ways, which, at this point in time at least, appears not be the case).
but, despite all that, it's still a top-notch opinion piece. two thumbs up.
Mad props, Donkeyhue!
I don't like censorship and I do not like revisionist censorship. Want to talk about the racial undertones in Tom and Jerry or the Little Rascals, fine. Talk about it. Talk about how white people everywhere love "Gone With The Wind" and call them racists too. WHATEVER. The point is that to go back and change things is like denying it ever happened and denying things serves no purpose and does not advance the cause of learning anything.
This reminds me of the uproar over the movie "Priest" I think Disney put out years ago because the Priest was gay. But they ignored the value of the ethical dilemma of the seal of the Confessional and abusers and the question of Priests in the position to absolve if they are "sinners". Great movie. But their fear is that it hits close to home.
Catholic critics of The Da Vinci Code seem to overlook that it's fiction: that is, not supposed to be true. And I spent a year in Catholic School myself. I read a nonfiction book a while back, "The Man Jesus Loved," which argued that Jesus may have been a homo. Why don't they make a movie about that if they want to offend people?
You missed the point. I could give two craps if the Catholics are being picked on, lord knows they brought alot on themselves. Its that its ok to bash them, but not others. Warts and all the Catholic church provides a tremendous amount of good in this country whether it be hospitals, shelters, soup kitchens, schools, various social services.
Meanwhile a faith that calls for the annihilation of Christians and Jews and whose members have embarked on a decades long war of terror on this country and the world are off limits.
There is no doubt in my mind whose side the liberal secularists are on, and they aint wearing home jerseys.
...and
Thanks for the positive feedback ladies, I aim to please.
Donkey, not just this country, but around the world the catholics do good, and the muslims do bad!
You are dead on with this one, and i would like to say that i have been ahead of the curve here and started bashing the "religion of peace" long before it was so unpopular.
As a liberal secularist I think Islamic fundamentalism is appalling, even more so than modern Christian fundamentalism.
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