On "Zombie Jesus" Reprise
I got two very good comments on my last post, which made me decide to clarify what I meant because, indeed, I jotted the last post off too quickly without being clear.
singingdragon concluded her comment with "You can pry my right to make fun of things people hold sacred from my cold, dead fingers." That is a statement I entirely agree with. When I said no one has the right to belittle another's beliefs, I used poor wording. Of course, everyone has the right to say anything they like and no one can or should stop them from doing so. This is one of the underpinnings of democracy.
However, like many of the rights that we hold dear, just because you may do something does not mean you should do something.
There is a great deal of very insightful and incisive humor around religion. The "Three Boats" joke of which I am so fond, for example. It is humorous and makes you think. It is quite important, however to know what you are making fun of before you can effectively create humor from it. Many (though not all) of the people who say "Happy Zombie Jesus Day" often know very little about the religion that they mock. Many (though not all) of these people have had some bad experiences with some people who call themselves Christian, and they then write off the entire religion as all 1,500,000,000 followers of it as a bunch of dupes who do not deserve the respect that they feel their own religion deserves.
The right to free speech is the most precious of all of the rights we have in this country, and I would indeed fight to defend it, even if it means fighting to defend people who say things that are thoughtless, ignorant, and offensive. However, people need to realize that their words have power and consider that when exercising this right.
singingdragon concluded her comment with "You can pry my right to make fun of things people hold sacred from my cold, dead fingers." That is a statement I entirely agree with. When I said no one has the right to belittle another's beliefs, I used poor wording. Of course, everyone has the right to say anything they like and no one can or should stop them from doing so. This is one of the underpinnings of democracy.
However, like many of the rights that we hold dear, just because you may do something does not mean you should do something.
There is a great deal of very insightful and incisive humor around religion. The "Three Boats" joke of which I am so fond, for example. It is humorous and makes you think. It is quite important, however to know what you are making fun of before you can effectively create humor from it. Many (though not all) of the people who say "Happy Zombie Jesus Day" often know very little about the religion that they mock. Many (though not all) of these people have had some bad experiences with some people who call themselves Christian, and they then write off the entire religion as all 1,500,000,000 followers of it as a bunch of dupes who do not deserve the respect that they feel their own religion deserves.
The right to free speech is the most precious of all of the rights we have in this country, and I would indeed fight to defend it, even if it means fighting to defend people who say things that are thoughtless, ignorant, and offensive. However, people need to realize that their words have power and consider that when exercising this right.