“He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own.”
Confucius (551-478BC)
It’s interesting how the rapidly escalating furore over the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten’s publication of cartoons illustrating and in some cases satirising the prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) dovetails very neatly with the British government’s present focus on respect (see last month’s post Respectfully yours). So much so that the fact that the one can provide the answer to the other becomes rather too obvious to ignore.
The cartoon row has been portrayed throughout as an issue over freedom of speech, but there’s a crucial differentiation to be made between protecting the right of every individual to speak their truth without fear of being censored or intimidated, and speaking that truth with respect. Freedom of speech – however it’s enshrined in cultural codes of behaviour – wasn’t really conceived with the idea of freedom to insult in mind, and can’t be considered in isolation from the responsibilities that all rights carry. If the right is exercised in a disrespectful manner, then all that will happen is that same lack of respect will get reflected right back. Just as if I were to walk up to someone in the street and call them a f*!^#*g w@#*^!r and get a fist in the face for my pains. Bleating about my rights to freedom of speech in such circumstances would be plainly nothing more than an attempt to substitute a red herring for a red face.
It might seem an incomprehensible furore over a few cartoons, but when reactions seem disproportionate, it’s often pertinent to ask what the various dynamics of the situation are touching on at a much deeper level. What’s been demonstrated in the commissioning and publishing of these cartoons is a profound lack of respect for the sensibilities of millions of people of the Islamic faith, exhibiting the same profound lack of respect towards Islamic nations as the West has been displaying for centuries. So long as each side keeps mostly to itself, the situation is perhaps tolerable. But when the West goes marching into two Islamic nations on the basis of a bunch of trumped up lies and is presently flexing its muscles in preparation to do the same thing all over again, such a reaction becomes entirely understandable.
Peace on Earth can only be achieved by genuine tolerance of differing viewpoints, customs and ways of life, and an attitude of respect for all by all, informed by the fundamental knowledge that we’re all ultimately one. Any absence of conflict achieved by enforcing the ways of the world’s biggest and most powerful bully on everyone else has got no more to do with peace than an absence of symptoms has to do with health. The only possible response that can be elicited by bullying behaviour is ultimately always a reflection of itself. With power to match.
Tags: cartoon, freedom of speech, Islam, Jyllands-Posten, Mohammed
Satire and ridicule may fall under the legal umbrella of freedom of speech, but there is also morality or ethics to consider. “Humor” at others’ expense is always in poor taste and violates the Golden Rule.
There’s a way of using satire and humour to point up our inconsistencies and hypocrises and deflate our pomposities that allows everyone to have a good laugh, including the person in the firing line. That’s surely a healthy thing, and very necessary — we can get awful stuck up our own backsides taking ourselves too seriously. That sort of humour succeeds because there’s still respect implicit in it, and often an evident affection for the subject of ridicule. Once again it’s a case of focusing on the fundamental state, not the superficial manifestation as a thing-in-itself.
An increasing amount of what seems to pass for humour and satire in these times all too often reveals a quite different fundamental state. One which is lacking in any respect, is contemptuous, divisive, attempts to make people a subject of ridicule for who they are rather than for the daft things they’ve done — a freak show kind of mentality. None of that seems very healthy and it can be pretty unpleasant to watch.