The latest round of Danish cartoons depicting Muslim prophet Mohammed has caused another torrent of dissent from Muslims, apparently (BBC: “Row over Danish cartoons escalates“).
Miraculously the reported thousands of protestors of generic Middle Eastern origin have quickly got hold of hundreds more Danish flags and started burning them.
Stephen Green, director of controversial UK evangelist lobby group Christian Voice, was arrested last month after handing out leaflets at Mardi Gras in Cardiff (See earlier Brights News coverage). The leaflets put forward a homophobic Biblical view of same-sex relationships. The case against Green was dropped last week, but his solicitor is now threatening to take legal action against Cardiff police. (See icWales.co.uk: Case dropped against ‘gay leaflet’ Christian.)
Having been suspended by its own opera house on Monday, on the advice of German security services, the Deutsche Oper production of Mozart’s Idomoneo was last night touted to be staged “as soon as possible”, following a series of high profile criticisms of the “self-censorship”, as well as the consent of a new German-Islam dialogue forum.
Today a statement issued by the Vatican has said sorry that the Pope’s speech to an academic audience at Regensburg University, in Germany on Tuesday, was “misinterpreted”. This is not an apology for the content, rather it is an expression of regret for the reception.
Reports of Muslim outrage are still flooding in. Media reports of “anger across the Muslim world” can appear distorted, however. For example, the number of demonstrators in Egypt numbered around a mere 100 people. 100 people only look like a baying mob of thousands if you film them from a certain angle (reports of Middle Eastern “anger” demonstrations are usually shot from low down, looking up into the most upset faces…!)
On the other hand, a number of Muslim scholars and spokespeople and political figures — most notably a unanimous Pakistani parliamentary condemnation of the speech — are very real. And yet this criticism seems to be a response to second-hand information (Turkey is even demanding that the Pope explain the speech). How many of the supposedly “furious” people have actually heard or read a good translation of the speech?
Various factions in Middle Eastern countries have doubtless stoked the fire. Some of these factions are media sources. Their partial translations of the speech will attribute the stand-out soundbite (Mohammad brought only “evil and inhuman things”) directly to the Pope. Meanwhile, many western media sources have focused solely on the fact that the infamous soundbite was from a quote, and have almost entirley ignored the rest of the speech. Now it’s certainly possible to quote another person without asserting the same propositions as the original speaker. But it is also possible to explicitly, or tacitly, agree with a passage that one is quoting.
So where does the truth lie in this instance?
Stephen Green, controversial national director of outspoken religious lobby group Christian Voice, stood before Cardiff Magistrates Court this morning.
He was arrested on Saturday at the Cardiff Mardi Gras festival and arrested for using “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby” under the Public Order Act. He was also handing out leaflets entitled “Same-sex love - same-sex sex: What does the Bible say?” (PDF of the text provided by Christian Voice here).
The UK’s Independent newspaper reports from the Edinburgh Festival (Independent: “The politics of humour: Religious extremism? What a joke“). Johann Hari is delighted by the anti-religious humour pervading the comedy.
If one sentence summarises the mood of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, it is this earnest pledge, muttered by a Bushalike President as he orders a new terror raid: “I have to keep killing religious fanatics. God told me to.”
EuroPride is kicking off, with the gay community hailing the decision of Sussex Chief Constable Joe Edwards for leading the march in Brighton (BBC: “Pride hails police chief support“). But elsewhere, the head of the Gay Police Association has received a death threat over the GPA’s recent Independent advertisement (BBC: “Officer threatened in advert row“).
Incitement to religious hatred is illegal under the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. And yet the more extreme anti-gay pronouncements of some religious groups is not covered. Hence the Gay Police Association’s recent newspaper advert (published in the Independent’s Diversity supplment, 29 July 2006 in the run up to EuroPride), drawing attention to a purported increase in recorded violent homophobic crime attributed to religious belief, is being investigated as a “faith crime” by Scotland Yard (BBC: “Gay police in anti-religion probe“, PinkNews: “Gay community backs GPA’s anti-religion ad“, MediaWatchWatch: “Gay police under investigation for “faith crime”“), while the shocking claims of the advert are being largely ignored:
In the last 12 months, the GPA has recorded a 74% increase in homophobic incidents, where the sole or primary motivating factor was the religious belief of the perpetrator.
Madonna’s live performances for her “Confessions” Tour — now on its Italian leg — have come under fire again. US and UK churches and church groups had criticised the show in May (BBC: “Madonna defends mock crucifixion“). But now responses from Vatican officials to her hanging on a large mirrored crucifix have been vitriolic. Cardinal Ersilio Tonino, speaking with the Papal approval (Scotsman: “Catholic fury at ‘blasphemous’ Madonna“), said:
“To crucify herself during the concert in the city of popes and martyrs is an act of open hostility. It is nothing short of a scandal. What is really offensive is the exaggeration of it all; it is clearly anti-Church, in poor taste and, most of all, an insult to Christ.
“The time will come when this woman will realise that Christ died on the cross for her as well, that He spilt His blood for her - I feel pity for her.”
