You can’t expect a private corporation to care about something as important as free speech, but it’s still a disappointment to hear that the childish cries of outraged Muslims all over the world was enough for Facebook to kill the “Everybody Draw Mohammad Day” page from the “interwebs”.

It’s equally ironic/tragic that the woman responsible for the whole thing also retracted and issued a sincere apology (even going so far as claiming she never intended to get this thing off the ground, even though a radio interview with her says otherwise). I guess she couldn’t stand the idea that when people practice free speech, you invariably have some of the disagreeable kind in there as well. Hey folks, if you want speech to be safe, there’s no better safeguard against hurt feelings than good old fashion censorship. Of course, you might also not be allowed to say some important things as well in the process, so it’s best that you get over your little ego and just accept the fact that some people will always say shit you don’t like. The flip-side is that no one is FORCING you to listen. If you don’t like it, do what the rest of us do every time some religious douche-bag starts spewing nonsense: ignore the fuckers.

**NOTE** It would appear that the page is, in fact, quite alive and well. In any case, even if the page had been taken down, someone else would have started up another in no time flat. The truth is that blasphemous drawings of the prophet will continue until Muslmis learn that not one of them is protected against getting their feelings hurt.

Spread the outrage

Some of you might be wondering why I haven’t been keeping the site as up to date as I normally do. Unfortunately, due to a serious money shortfall, I’ve had to go back to work for a while, and this means I can’t devote as much time to the site as I would like. Also quite problematic is the fact that podcasts are extremely hard to produce, and so for the next little while things might be a bit spotty. I’ll try my best, but to be honest doing both is taking a pretty serious toll on me. A thousand apologies to patrons for the delays; I just can’t seem to have much magic when my day is spent doing menial tasks. Hopefully I’ll be able to fill the bank account back up quickly enough so most of you don’t notice my absence. In the meantime, I’ll try to get Ryan to write stuff, and if I have enough energy, continue to post things of interest that I find.

Sorry gang, I hate doing this now, but trust me when I say desperate times call for desperate measures. If you’re sympathic to this, and want to benefit from being a member, I can assure you that now is an ideal time to do so.

Spread the outrage

I’m still amazed that any rational, intelligent person can doubt as to whether or not religion still causes all kinds of harm in this world. I think the problem is that few people actually bother to find out what is going on in parts of the world where religious fundamentalism is still prominent. There are countries aroud the world where the toxic effects of religion are being felt by innocent men and women. The latest story of misery and dread comes from Malawi, where two men were arrested after they took part in an engagement ceremony.

For their crime of loving one another, they face about a decade of hard labor, and considering that they refuse to appologize or back down, they’ll probably end up serving the full sentence. Why are they taking a stand? Because the plight of other gays is at stake, and when countries like Uganda try and pass “kill the gays” legislation, there are some with the moral fortitude to put the wellbeing of others ahead of their own:

Gay sex is still illegal in 37 countries in Africa. A recent poll by the Pew Research Centre found that 98% of people in Cameroon, Kenya and Zambia disapprove of homosexuality. But encouraged by legal advances in South Africa, a new wave of activist movements are making a stand and pushing the boundaries in Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe and other countries in ways unthinkable a generation ago. Gay and lesbian lifestyles are also much more visible.

This assertiveness is apparently being met by a ferocious backlash from religious fundamentalists and politicians determined to preserve the status quo. It has been described as a proxy war between US liberals and Christian evangelicals, both of which pour in funding and support to further their cause.

As far as religious fundies are concerned, homosexuality is an abomination, and no amount of broken lives (or in some cases, deaths) will stop them from continuing to advocate their seething hatred of gays. As far as they are concerned, their invisible sky-daddy has commanded that same sex attractions are morally wrong. It doesn’t matter if someone is born that way; why would they worry about something as inconvenient as reality interfereing with their beliefs? It’s never been a problem before…

(props to the Freethinker for the find)

Spread the outrage