This is going to be a complicated post, so try to follow along. I just did that post where I bragged about all the books I now have published. I have also been very clear about how I am all art-side-of-the-brain, and how that makes actually marketing my books and art problematic. I keep saying I am going to get an agent, but I suck at real life stuff. The crack squirrels in my cranium do not cooperate.
I also have a history of pissing people off here on this blog. Not just individually… oh no… I do it by large groups. Let’s see. So far I have:
1. Gotten kicked off WordPress for four days because of that spam joke I did where I typed up a fake spam comment and pasted it into hundreds of blogs… and not only of people I know. And I tried to get you all to do it with me.
2. I tried to organize all of you to do posts with key words like ‘bomb’ and ‘terrorist’ and ‘overthrow the government’ so we would drive the NSA crazy and maybe shut down their big computers.
3. I just did that series of poems and stuff where I might very well have alienated many people who take the bible too seriously.
4. I have done open letters to gun nuts and racists and rich people that must have made some of them angry.
And I have Photoshopped the crap out of so many politicians that I can’t even count. Hell, Dick Cheney alone should have sent hit men after me by now. And I did do one open letter to all extremists suggesting that as a PR move, blowing up women and children was sort of a stupid way to get people to see the point you are trying to make.
And that brings us full circle to this post. We just need to combine two things together to get the perfect storm.
Thing one: I need to sell my books, but I suck at it.
Thing two: I haven’t pissed off any large groups of people lately.
Enter my friend in India. So often these weird moments in history are simply a matter of timing. One thing I love about blogging is that I have friends all over the planet now. I am going global. My friend, Krishnan Nair, lives in Kerala, India. You should check out his blog: http://nairview.wordpress.com/ It is a beautiful part of the world… unless you actually live there, according to him.
So my friend, when reading some comment I made about not making much money off my books, casually comments that one sure way to increase book sales is if I can get the Islamic extremists of the world mad at me. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much sense that makes. Look what it did for Salman Rushdie…
So now I am in another awkward pickle. I am seriously considering the notion of doing some posts where I Photoshop the image of Allah… did you know that it is forbidden to show an image of Allah? This surprises most Westerners who are used to seeing images of Jesus and god on everything from the Sistine Chapel to paintings done on black velvet and sold at a swap meet.
I, for the first time in my life, am going to stop and think about this before I rush out and do it. Because if I do do it, you can bet your ass it isn’t going to be pictures of Allah healing the sick or dispensing wisdom. You know me better than that. I am going to have him working at McDonald’s, or as a pimp, or a male model. Maybe I will stick his face on a hot dog… or put him in a dress… who knows which way the crack squirrels will lead me.
So I have to ask. Does this seem like a good idea to you? Is it worth it to have a bunch of terrorists declare jihad on me… you know… if it will help me sell a few books?
Pouring My Art Out 
Just so you don’t mistake my intentions – NO, THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA! You are stooping to someone else’s level by make fun of their God. Please don’t do this.
I never meant too…
I just read through this comment thread, honestly as much fun as I like to have with many topics, this degrades my faith in humanity a little. I wonder, when did we stop giving a shit about other people? Muslims are actual people. They have actual feelings. Many many of them will be offended by images of Allah, the Prophet, etc being shown in any capacity. You’re not pissing off Islamic extremists with this; where do you think it is written that only the extremists will be offended? Go fucking read a book and learn something. Begging you to do this, Art? Hurrah for angering the Muslim community? Fuck Muslims, maybe this will sell books? When did this shit become okay?
There is ignorance here. Maybe it’s just cutting cutting humour and none of you mean this, I don’t know. I kind of hope for the latter, but there seem to be some serious misconceptions about Islam, extremism, and the Muslim faith here. And also just a tinge of intolerance that I find really distasteful. Yeah let’s Photoshop Mohammad all over the fucking place, really excellent idea.
I mean, maybe it’s a Shia Muslim that finds their way here, so that’ll be okay; fuck the Sunnis anyway. Or no Muslim ever comes here. Maybe that makes it okay, right? Or maybe you get lots of attention and people flock here in droves because of whatever images (not that I think you will do it) you post, and then you can congratulate yourself for contributing to intolerance and soliciting hatred – that’s exactly what the world needs, right? More Muslims pissed off at the western world, breeding their own misconceptions about us in turn? We either get off this train wreck or we hit the throttle, it’s up to us. But I have to say Art, you are funny enough and talented enough that you do not need this type of sad sad approach to sell your books. I have gotten to know you a little bit, and I think this is way beneath you. And yet the endless support you seem to be getting for this idea makes me brutally sad – I hope the lot of you are kidding, but I don’t really know one way or the other.
I’m a bit shocked by all this. Are we really endorsing this as a good idea? Do you guys really believe that this is the right thing to do? If so, please explain it to me, I am really confused by this discussion and the support this idea seems to be getting.
Intentionally pissing people off to make some money = wrong.
Trying to be funny, and having people get pissed off because they don’t get the joke and/or we’re offended = ?
I’d agree that Art doesn’t need to do something controversial specifically to draw attention to himself. He is talented and creative enough to get the sales he wants without doing something like that.
I just don’t see why we need to make special considerations for one group over another. We all live on this spinning marble. We all our doing our best to be happy and survive and thrive. I think we can make fun of each other, without being hateful, or racist, or sexist, or etc…
You don’t have to make special considerations for anyone if you don’t want to. It’s your choice. I don’t make Nazi jokes in front of Jewish people. I don’t make retard jokes in front of mothers who have kids with Downs Syndrome. I don’t make dead baby jokes in front of mothers who just had miscarriages.
You think that we can make fun of each other without being hateful or racist or sexist? Who are you? Why should the person on the receiving end suddenly adopt your standards and attitude? Why should they have to agree with your perspective while negating theirs?
We are good if we can show respect. Respect is a word. It is a thought. It is elusive. It is difficult. It may even be wrong. But what is wrong with trying? If you know someone may have a problem with something you want to make fun of, why do it anyway? Why endorse the freedom to be mean-spirited when we need something better than that?
I ask a philosophical question here. We do live on this spinning marble. Around and around we go. Hatred grows at times because we don’t strive for understanding; it’s not that hard to just laugh things off, to provide little or no consideration for others, in the name of simply having the freedom to do so. Freedom is everything. But you are apparently not a Muslim. How do you know what you do with your words?
You and the others here are demeaning Art, in my opinion, by inferring that he needs to do something inflammatory and shitty to get some attention. In all honesty, I say fuck off to all of you. He deserves better than what you are giving him, in my opinion. Why not just hop out the dead baby jokes or some anti-immigrant humour while he’s at it, because why wouldn’t that also generate some book sales? You think this might be different in severity than posting images of Allah? If so, I remain baffled beyond existence. Do you know what images of Allah would mean to everyday very moderate Muslims? Do you? Why on earth do you think that would be okay if you knew how they would regard that? What is the difference in your mind?
We can do our best to be happy and survive and thrive by respecting each other. Pissing on people’s religions on a specific point that is very sensitive to them does not accomplish that. It just creates misunderstanding, misconception and ill feelings – great, you get a laugh, fantastic, but is that all that matters? We deserve better and should act better.
I apologize if my tone is harsh. I fundamentally agree with what you are saying as a goal. I feel that endpoint clearly and hope like hell for it. I’m fairly mortified by this discussion, and it takes a lot to get me to that point. I am honestly confused by this topic and the vehemence that it is getting, the support for going ahead and throwing up some funny images of the Prophet. I am not Muslim. I know many Muslims. I work with them. I travel to parts of the world where they live in large numbers. And I just don’t think this is a good idea. It’s a free world hereabouts, however, and as you say, I choose my prescriptions. Perhaps I will stop my whining and give up on this; I am clearly in a minority in this commentary thread, a reality that causes me no little pain and quite a bit of despair. All I can say is that, perhaps, it’s not just your perspective as the giver of humour that is most important; couldn’t it be that how the receiver will take the jest is somewhat important? At least a little? I don’t know. Maybe I’m just off base. But I have to admit, I have a sadness today that wasn’t there before all of this. I think I need several drinks in short succession, which I think I will happily updake momentarily.
Cheers. 😉
As I said in the beggining, I’m was play devil’s advocate because I found it interesting to see your initial comments on this post but not on the four Art did about Christianity…
That aside, yes, respect is very important. Yes, Art shouldn’t do something disrespectful just to boost the sales of his book. As I said in my last comment, i agree he is talented enough that he doesn’t need to do anything like that to generate interest in his creative endeavors. So, I’m setting aside my devil’s advocate hat for now, and donning my jester’s cap again, because silliness is what I’m all about.
I hope the sadness passes quickly. I’ll raise a beer here on my end to you, and hope to hear yours clinking in to mine.
Okay… one last question… is it ironic that we are talking about drinking on this thread?
No, it is not ironic. My best drinking buddies are Muslims. I employee a few of them. They are a lot of a fun.
On subject of images of the Prophet, the Koran, from what I know, does not forbid images specifically. But the Sunni have adopted over the years a very strict prohibition against such images. It may not be entirely based in the hadith but it has been adopted quite seriously. The Shia, however, are somewhat different. They are open to representations of the Prophet. With respect to Christianity, I have never heard of anyone saying that images of Jesus in compromising situations is hurtful; could be that such prohibition is also in place, but I profess an ignorance of both Islam and Christianity. In my opinion, religion is about as useful as cat piss. This does not mean that I don’t try to respect.
My drink of choice tonight is scotch. I clink my glass to your beer, gladly. I worry that our friend Art, who tries more than anyone else I know, might be corrupted by thinking about tactics that are below his talent level. The boy needs an agent. And a penis-englarger. And a Canadian passport. The rest writes itself.
OoO, scotch! Now we’re talking. I’m going to put down my beer and grab some Glen Fiddich instead. Yum. 😀
He does need an agent… and a personal assistant too. And maybe some sort of tracking devices for his crack squirrels.
MacCallun tonight. It’s close 1:30 in morning here. And snowing, of all things.
Agents are hard. Our friend has the misguided opinion that views/likes/follows on WordPress will attract a publisher or the like, but agents are really now a pre-screening step for publishers and sort of a necessary evil. He just needs to try, he will get one in time.
Have you ever bbq’d a crack squirrel? They are pretty good, but they make an awful noise when you toss them on the grill. Possibly I should kill them first. There’s a thought. Well, there’s always next summer…
Hah! No, I’ve never bbq’d a crack squirrel. Wouldn’t all the crack make it … explosive? Seems scary.
10:30 here, and well, perfect. Because that’s life in Southern California. 😛 Want to trade?
Ah crike. I should have known… another Californian with a perfect life. I go there quite often, but not enough. Love it. Would love to trade, but I’ll have to settle for copious amounts of scotch and the occasional hoser for now.
Crack squirrels are best served with lima beans and a delicate chianti. You know, if you ever want to try…
Thanks for the tip… next time I track one down I’ll give it a go. 😀
Not one of mine!
Finders keepers… or something like that.
That doen’t work with brain pets
They are best served with heroin.
I rode out the storm… wish I was here for that… or there for that…
…ooo000ooo…
Stop messing around. Get. An. Agent.
I am on it.
I am never leaving you two alone again.
We’ve got enough scotch to share. And, I’ve got some ribs in the crock pot right now. Come on up, they should be done by the time you get here.
Squirrel ribs?
Too much work. Squirrel kabobs.
ummmmmmm, mmmmmm
You take that penis part back.
Just trying to give some helpful meaningful advice…
This is how rumors get started
It’s also how the party gets started.
with a small penis? if you say so,
I want ribs…
It was a joke…
It truly was.
Not truly
This is getting out of hand.
Dude, I just had to leave and I typed the title based on the suggestion without thinking about it. I obviously have no intention of pissing off and entire religion, even though you could say my other posts could have done that to some degree.
You may see the joke as being equal, but the response would not be.
It was an intelectual excercsie
Far from it, my friend.
I do what I can
You should Photoshop Mohammed. It’s that easy.
Try writing for Yahoo Voices. I’ve made over $100 and about 40 of has been in just the last month now that I have passed their initiation.
I will try that… and that…
NOOOO!!! DON’T DO IT!
Man, I find a ferpickly good uncle and he proceeds to try and commit suicide before my virtual eyes!!!!!! Stick around a bit longer. There are other ways to sell your book.
Christians have a bible which says that every sort of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, except for one. Whether they read it or believe it, or not, is another question.
http://www.jw.org/en/publications/bible/nwt/books/matthew/12/#v40012031
I have read it… twice…
Your post looks better with the changes. *sigh of relief*
I was casting too wide a net.
I would seriously consider that idea. I once did a skit where I showed pictures of famous artwork with blacked-out sections as if each of them had a depiction of Mohammed in that artwork which was censored out to avoid offending the Muslims. But you should know that there is a real risk, because some radicals do tend to kill people who offend their religion of peace. Google Theo Van Gogh.
On the other hand, there was that Florida pastor who threatened to burn a Koran (and actually burned it later), and I think he’s still doing ok. I also survived that skit – but I didn’t get any publicity either,
As a compromise, you can test the waters with the Christian God or Jesus, if you haven’t yet. You might still piss off some Christians, but they mostly just tell people to burn in hell.
I don’t really want to go out of my way to offend people, but as a PR stunt, it is an interesting concept.
How about this – you do a post contest asking people for the craziest PR idea, and offer the winner a free book or a drawing. You may get something you can actually use.
I tried that didn’t I?
There is no such thing as bad publicity… and this sure seems like a great idea to generate some interest in what you’ve got going on.
I’d say go for it.
I am doomed.
This is not a joke. No one cares about radicals who take things too seriously, but there are some perfectly nice perfectly normal people for whom this will be very offensive. This is not all about you or selling your books, why does it make sense to offend people on purpose for no real reason? Why should we strive to hurt people?
Okay… simmer down… I am not really going to do it… if I was going to do something like it, I would do pictures of guys in suicide vests doing stupid stuff… more stupid stuff… but how would this be different than my stuff making fun of the Bible, just out of curiosity?
Ask a Muslim that question. I don’t qualify.
I decided you were right and changed it.
Changed what?
I don’t remember now.
Okay I just reread that. I think you are way missing the point. If you theoretically did put up funny images of Allah or the Prophet (not that I think you will), you will offend everyday normal Muslims. Period. They take this seriously for reasons that you really should try to understand. Of course you will offend extremists too; they are all lame wankers and deserve to be castrated, fuck em. But images of the Prophet will be offensive to normal everyday Muslims, you know, the people who might live down the street or be your doctor or whatever. If you’re cool with that, carry on. This is different from Christians, Buddhists etc. It’s a particular sensitivity amongst Muslims that is specific to their religion; if you want to understand what the issues are, get some information.
Now if you really want to piss off just Islamic extremists/terrorists, why not just pervert images of bin Laden? You know, funny images of his hanging or the like. At least then you’re not pissing off people who don’t deserve it. He was just an idiot lunatic, no one gives two shits about him and he doesn’t mean anything to or have any bearing on personal faith for the majority of people. Going after Islam is not cool; going after extremists, who gives a fuck.
Got it.
Hope so. Maybe I’ll bring one of my employees with me next time I’m out west, he can explain this stuff way better than me. His name is Mohammad. Mohammad Islam. No joke.
My mistake was typing too fast and putting Muslim instead of Islamic extremists.
no that was not your mistake. images of allah offend all muslims, not just extremists what is so hard to understand about that?
I never intended to do it.
you don’t even understand the problem.
I am not a hater, but it never hurts to find out who is
I know you’re not. But this thread exposes a sort of unspoken intolerance. Yah rah let’s offend some Muslims by showing photos of Allah, something they do not abide. If you showed a photo of Allah to my friend and co-worker Mohammad, he would be terribly offended. He is not an extremist by any means; he is a normal guy whose wife is about to give birth to twins. He deserves better.
I think it is an exercise on who thinks what. I had an uncomfortable feeling reading peoples’ reactions to your idea. You know, Canadians are not different from Americans in any real way but there is still some stupid stereotype we use saying that Americans are uneducated, insular, and unaware of the rest of the world, to their detriment. The reaction you got to this actually made me think the stereotype for a split second, before I came to my senses. I know you guys are just like us, warts and all.
It’s just that I think we can do better. We see videos of Muslims dancing and singing after 9/11, expressing joy for that horror. But that’s just a bunch of shithead morons dancing; the majority of Muslims did not punch their hands in the air with joy after that crime. They railed against it just like the rest of us did. And yet here we are, in 2013, encouraging ourselves to rile up Muslims. I say again, they are people like you and me. Christians have extremists. Jewish people have extremists. Fuck, comic book lovers have extremists. They are all twats and assholes. But that doesn’t detract from the majority of good people who belong to each group and deserve better.
What I get out of the reaction to your post is a startling support for offending Muslims. Like it’s a great idea. Like they have it coming. Like Muslims are unsavoury in some way and should be offended. Like we really don’t like them. Like they are responsible for something. Like they are bad in some way. They are not. This is a terrible misconception and stereotype, vaguely the equal of stupid uneducated Americans who can’t get their heads out of their asses for more than two seconds to understand what the rest of the world is about – and then you wonder why Americans are hated. all over the place. I know you guys are smarter than that. But people occasionally think badly of you, reasons notwithstanding, and I guarantee that splaying images of Allah or the Prophet in compromising situations will only make things worse. Shouldn’t we as artists and people be striving to make things better through self-expression? That is the question I ask myself. In my books, the US is the greatest country in the world; but boy oh boy was I waiting for someone else to jump in and slam this idea, expressing some understanding of the Muslim community and who they are. But nothing. Nada. And that is a shock to me. If I did this up here, I would have been put in my place in two seconds flat. And rightly so.
But let’s suppose the opposite and place ourselves back in the artistic world. There are ideas and truths that come out of anything, even our confusion. Most of my ideas are born from confusion, trying to understand. I don’t understand the reaction to your post. It confuses and beguiles me and stays with me. As a human being, that makes me question what we are about; as an artist, it is an opportunity for expression. So here is expression. I will write something on this topic, on what this inspires (however dark in my eyes), and I will post it. I will call it “Why I hate Muslims” and it will be ferocious and unapologetic, and I hope to go down in flames. Maybe I have that coming. Maybe we all do.
So thanks for that anyway. You got me thinking. That hardly ever happens (thinking that is); between lack of sleep and too much work, ideas seem best to evolve themselves staring at the drain in the shower or huddled in the cold at a stop light. Fuck that noise, as the Clown would say. I wonder what he would say about this topic. But I can guess. He would rage this shit all over the place, and rightly so. We don’t stand up for truth, then we forget it ever existed. We don’t call ourselves on our own ignorance, we don’t get better. Fuck that noise.
And don’t tell me to calm down. You started this, for whatever reason. Some things are, believe it or not, more important than you selling books.
There are two issues here. Race and religions. I will never say anything hateful against a race. But I don’t think religion is off the table as a subject of humor. If you think your religion allows you to kill someone because they make fun of some aspect of it, your religion is screwed up. Just like if you think you can shoot a girl in the head because she wants to get an education. I made fun of people who saw Jesus on a pice of toast. But this was just an attempt to get us to think about religion, not a real idea to sell books.
Dude, make fun of religion all you want. I don’t care about religion one whit or have that much respect for it. But I do respect peoples’ beliefs, just as I respect the beliefs of aethiests.
Your one sentence betrays the issue, I think. Pick up a copy of the Koran and show me where it says that Muslims can kill someone because you make fun of some aspect of it. There is no such utterance in that book. Islam is a religion of peace, period. It’s the zealots and the extremists that twist things; don’t go judging everyone who subscribes to that belief based on a few wingnuts. Just as you likely shouldn’t condemn all Christians because of Westboro Baptist Church.
Yes of course religion is screwed up. This stuff was written hundreds of years ago by people who could revise history as they saw fit. Doesn’t mean it’s good to dump on well-meaning people who simply want something to believe in. Make fun of religion all you want; all I’m saying is that there are some items that are more sensitive than others out there; if you know what those are and choose to make fun of them anyway, be my guest. If you’re doing it because you don’t know what those issues are, I think that’s a mistake – it’s ignorance. That’s never funny.
Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban because she wanted to attend school. She is an inspiration for her beliefs. She is a Muslim and proud of it; she believes in Islam and that’s who she is. The Taliban are a sect of extremist morons who belong in jail. Why would you possibly think that a bunch of extreme assholes represent Islam? They are not Muslims. They are extremists who pervert a faith that no where – I repeat, NO WHERE, says that you cannot educate females.
Malala is a Sunni Muslim. They abhor images of Allah or the Prophet. They are taught day in and day out that it is blasphemous. It offends them. Do you think Malala would go out and kill someone because they showed her such an image, or is it possible that she and others like her (the majority by far of Muslims) are the real representation of that faith? Malala is a Muslim. You know, she stood up in front of people once and said “How can the Taliban take away my right to education?”. She didn’t say “How can Muslims take away my right to education?” She is a Muslim. She is a much much truer representation of that faith than what you are portraying. You may wish to have a conversation about religion, but you don’t seem to know much about Islam, who Muslims are, or the relationship between Muslims and extremists. These are not the same thing. You have it very very wrong. I hate saying that, because I don’t deal in absolutes, but in this case, I don’t know what else to say. Pick up a copy of the Koran. Read it. Pick up a copy of the bible and read it too. There is little difference between the two, in the end. Hell, Jesus even appears in the Koran.
If you want to think about religion, please seek the facts. Read the books. Don’t go by populist misconceptions and stereotypes, because that is all that you are doing, and that is all that you are propogating. Islam is a religion of peace. Go talk to a Muslim. Ask them what they believe in. Satisfy yourself one way or the other accordingly. It seems to me that you will be very surprised by the answer.
This was only aimed at people who use religion to justify doing what they want. It was poorly worded, poorly thought out and never meant to be serious. I will do a post asking if people think I should kill myself to increase book sales.
Understood. Go befriend a Muslim. It will add to your life. Also befriend a Jewish person and try to bring them together.
Use your power for good, not evil, man.
I actually have friends of both persuasions. Ands I have read all the major religious books. I am a voracious reader.
How on earth can you insinuate that Muslims generally will kill you if you piss them off or like to kill girls who get educated, if you have read the Qu’ran? Where in the Prophet’s teachings is this mandated? It is not a religious relic, it is a cultural artefact. I think it’s awesome that you’ve read the texts, but that just seems so at odd with some of your comments – unless you are being very very tongue in cheek. I don’t put that past you.
As I said, I had a thing I had to do and I rushed that post and didn’t explain that I was talking about pissing of extremists only and that idea would have insulted millions of people who didn’t deserve to be insulted and that’s inexcusable. I just didn’t think of using Bin Ladin pictures to get a jihad called down on me. Sorry.
He has it coming. He was a miserable fuck.
I will only piss off people who deserve it from now on…
We have it coming.
Yeah you do.
Philosophical question – assuming a comedian offends all groups equally in their routines, and the only reason for the offense is for humor… is there a difference between humor for the sake of humor, and humor for the sake of gain?
Good question. It’s just somewhat about what offense is. We can very easily presume that we are offending people equally, but the fact is that some may take a certain type of humour more offensively than others, and so it’s not really equal. The line is pretty crooked and pretty skewed all over the place. In my opinion, showing photos of the Prophet in strange situations is over the line, and just seems so unnecessary. There are many things we can have fun with without hurting people, I don’t understand why we have to nudge up against people’s sensibilities. I think respect is about understanding that just because you don’t necessarily see something wrong with a certain topic of humour that you try to understand how those receiving it might be different from you and how they may receive it.
I think if you kill people for disagreeing, we should be able to make fun of you.
Extremists are assholes.
Extreme assholes
I see your points (and am mostly arguing to play devil’s advocate), but that brings up other questions:
– Isn’t it the job of a comedian to test the lines?
– If showing the prophet (or Allah in this case) in offensive situations/positions is over the line for Muslims, what would be the equivolent line for Christians/Buddhists/etc…?
– Is it really the responsibility of the comedian to worry about not offending everyone, or is it the audiences choice to view/hear the jokes and then decide if they want to support that comedian in the future?
Yeah… what he said…
I think comedians have little to do with it. I think we all have to decide for ourselves where the line is and test it as we see fit and to push it as required. Information is key. The more information and understanding we have, the better we handle Ourselves.
I don’t think there is an equivalent reaction point for Christians etc. I think Muslims take this point more seriously than others. I think understanding that is important to this discussion and why this may not be a very cool idea.
Why not publish photos of the Prophet fucking in a newspaper? Wouldn’t that be funny? He could be screwing a pig, let’s say. Shall we lay the onus upon the audience to avoid reading that newspaper?
I think in this case we do take into account that the person asking the question is trying to be funny. And, where a newspaper is beholden to its paying subscribers and advertisers, the author of this blog is beholden only to himself. If you are here, reading about what his crack squirrels are scheming about, it is because you choose to be.
I don’t know if we were talking about my particular presence here. I choose it, certainly, and if I came here and suddenly see lewd pictures of the Prophet or images of Hitler castrating dog-like Jews, it is definitely my decision but that doesn’t make it less distasteful or against what I hope would be a more understanding version of humanity. I don’t begrudge this guy any right to post anything he wants; he posts often and very often, about many things, and I enjoy it all. But my decision to come here doesn’t excuse his or anyone else’s behaviour. We don’t make the world better by pissing on someone’s religion when they are serious about it and just because we don’t understand or take the time to understand their particular sensitivity. Choice doesn’t absolve of us trying to be good, does it? Shouldn’t it be the opposite?
Your point is taken, though. I come here for crack squirrels. If I come here for something like that and find something pretty mean instead, I forgive and try to explain. If there’s a wilful ignorance at play and a lack of caring for how people feel, well, whatever. I don’t come back.
We just need to get extremists addicted to crack squirrels
Then stone them.
oh yeah
That is a good point.
Okay… calm down… I will go after the IRS… or the IRA… or…
I am perfectly calm. We Canadians never get riled up.
I forgot
Not to Islamic extremists there isn’t.
When you ask what is the equivalent line for Christians/Buddhists, you are presuming that there is an official religious ‘line’, and that it is set in stone. If Islamic radicals decide what line should not be crossed, it is for them to not cross it. I am a Hindu. I’ve seen others from my religion get offended by the smallest of slights. I on the other hand, have no qualms of mocking the antiquated customs that drag down our culture. That is to say, we have drawn our lines in different places.
Salman Rushdie, a muslim of Indian origin, has been one of the biggest critics of Islam. Yet, he still is a Muslim. Obviously, Rushdie and the radicals that issued the Fatwa against him have different ‘lines’.
I think it all comes down to perspective. What you perceive as an insult. Every person has the right to not get offended.
I changed it to Islamic extremists…
Changed what? Islamic extremists are twats.
It was just Muslims… I narrowed it down
Be careful what you wish for. On the other hand dead authors do seem to sell well? Just kidding
(thinking something with Bacon and Miley Cyrus’s birthday party tomorrow……)
oh man…
If someone were to actually do that, then a sure fire way to piss them off would be to have him eating pork, or drinking alcohol. If someone were to do that
So… fat Allah with a hot dog in one hand and a beer in the other… American Allah!
That’s it 🙂
I don’t want to die…
Get someone else to do it.
How will that sell my books… I need a ghost martyr???
Not a Toe Martyr then
no
When I made that suggestion, I didn’t think you’d actually go for it. This might be interesting, considering that when the shit hits the roof, it will be yours, not mine. 😀
Seriously though, I said piss off the middle east. Not muslims…
I am intrigued. To quote Tarantino – “You had my curiousity. Now you have my attention”
I need to get a jihad issued on my head… and let’s face it… extremists are the easiest people on the planet to piss off. And I don’t know how to piss the whole Mid East off all at once… and I am lazy…
If you want to piss off the whole middle east, invent a motor engine that runs on water instead of petrol.
I do something like that I the second sci-fi book… and the third… It actually all starts in India…
I’ve got to read that. 😀
well… yeah…
But please don’t actually invent the engine that runs on water. You will attract the wrath of Exxon, BP, and Chevron, which could be much worse than any Muslim fatwas.
It works well in the novels. It isn’t really water, but they are clean running.
DO IT!!!! NOW!!!
You all want me to die… sob…
No… wait… you did kill me, remember that? Uh huh…
A fictional you who would already be dead…
Maybe I am dead…
I didn’t do it… it was the butler…
Riiiiiiiight
He did it… with Billy… ha!
The image in my head is disgusting. I know where you live…
Control your brain.
You of all people should know that’s not possible.
uh… yeah…
For the love of all that is holy…please do this! I beg you.
You want me to die???
No! Perhaps, I rushed my enthusiasm for angering the Muslim community. It just sounds wicked fun!
Well… yeah it does…