Religion

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Israel – Palestine Part II: Is Jewish religious fundamentalism the flip side of Islamism?

Are there parallels that can be made between Jewish religious fundamentalism or perhaps Jewish ethno-nationalism, political Judaism and Islamism, political Islam?

Hamas has Islamist roots but makes political claims. In Israel there is a ruling coalition that includes the Religious Zionism Party and a party called Otzma Yehudit, the 'Jewish Power' party. Are there parallels to be made here between Hamas and Jewish fundamentalism?

Is criticism of religion an intolerant act of bullying against a minority or a courageous challenge to established power?

ARTICLE

Religion and Free speech - Daniel Ben-Ami and Jacob Mchangama

One afternoon last June, Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee living in Sweden, stepped in front of the largest Mosque in Sweden and lit several pages from the Quran on fire. Momika had sought and received a permit from the Swedish authorities for his provocative demonstration, and there were police monitoring the event.

The event, apparently involving two people, caused international uproar and condemnation from world leaders, especially in the Middle-East. It may affect Sweden’s prospects for entry into NATO, and both the Pope and Putin felt the need to weigh in.

Wikipedia vs Pakistan: who won, blasphemy laws or free speech?

Blasphemy

Redacted. Creative Commons License - Jack Zalium

We recently wrote about Pakistan's 48 hour ultimatum to Wikipedia–either remove certain ‘sacrilegious’, i.e. blasphemous content, or be blocked in Pakistan.

In fact, after the 48 hours were up, Wikipedia was blocked throughout the country. The ban was short-lived. Access was restored after a three day suspension.

Who won, blasphemy laws or free speech? 

Will Wikipedia bow to Pakistan’s censorship laws?

Blasphemy

Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

Last Wednesday the Pakistani government issued an ultimatum threatening to shut down the online crowd-sourced encyclopedia Wikipedia. The Pakistani authorities gave Wikipedia 48 hours to remove certain content they deemed to be ‘sacrilegious’ or blasphemous.

The forty eight hours had passed by Friday evening, and Saturday it was announced that Wikipedia had been banned in Pakistan.

Penn State Students Versus the Proud Boys–who won?

Article

Penn State student spits on right wing comedian provocateur Alex Stein

If you want to fan the flames of fascism, keep doing things like this, Penn State students!

Several days ago Penn State, a top-ranked U.S. research university, known for its football team and its programs in engineering, business, and marketing, began trending on social media for something entirely different.

The event was to feature Gavin McInnes, cofounder of the right-wing organization Proudboys and comedian, provocateur Alex Stein. Student opinion was very strongly against allowing these individuals to speak, and violent protests developed.

Postmodernism – the joke is on society

REDLINE article

Cynical Theories book cover

Under postmodernism many ideas that were seen as objectively true came to be seen as mere constructions of language. Foucault refers to them as ‘discourses’ that construct knowledge. Consequently, since discourses are believed to create and maintain oppression, they have to be carefully monitored and deconstructed. This is not some obscure academic issue, it is the outlook that is behind calls for laws to outlaw speech which may cause offense.