Posted by Bill
There are an unfortunate number of examples of the referenced phenomenon. However, the current "National Review" had an unusually cringe-inducing one.
It seems that Trevelez, in Granada, Spain, is famous for air-cured ham. The mention of this fact by a school teacher in Cadiz earned him a student complaint and a visit from the police, and local prosecutors threatened him with charges under Article 525 of the penal code for "offending the feelings of the members of a religious confession." The complaint was later dismissed, but one can imagine the teacher got the message loud and clear.
I respectfully ask Ed if I can offer one of his "virtual cookies" to anyone correctly guessing which religion the offended student identifies with.
16 comments:
I forgot to write "Posted by Bill" on this. Can you add it Ed?
Sure, you may offer any virtual prize you like.
Neither Jews nor Muslims eat pork. But since you rarely (if ever) hold members of the Tribe of Judah to account for their sins, Bill, I would say that the answer to your question is "Muslim".
Jews didn't figure in this true story at all - I think they were all killed or run out of Spain by the Inquisition anyway; the correct answer is indeed Muslim.
I virtual cookie awarded.
Alright, Glen with the quick trigger....and snippy comment as usual.
"There are currently around 50,000 Spanish Jews, with the largest communities in Barcelona and Madrid each with around 3,500 members. There are smaller communities in Alicante, Málaga, Tenerife, Granada, Valencia, Benidorm, Cadiz, Murcia and many more." (Source: Wikipedia)
BTW, Bills story is not an indictment of Muslims so much as it is an indictment of statism. Once a state begins to afford people unearned benefits for being offended, you naturally get more offended people. (Can you say United States of America, children?)
But Glen, you've purposefully ignored the fact that the teacher wasn't cautioned about being offensive on behalf of Jews. Only the perpetually irritated Muslim hordes get upset at the mere mention of something with which they don't agree.
For a bonus cookie, name any instance in which self-censorship took place so as not to offend the delicate, flower-like sensibilities of Jews?
@Glen, it is an indictment of Spain that they would self-censor in order to appease hostile Muslim colonizers and that the US is guilty of that here and there. That's why we rail against it at every opportunity.
Ed, it's not exactly what you asked, but the left went into hysterical phony outrage at Sarah Palin's use of the term "blood libel" - it supposedly being offensive to Jews.
And the funny part of that Bill, is that the media are the first people to attack the Jews for all manner of wrongs, real or imagined. I heard the ADL whine about her using the term bit it's their job to whine about everything. I never heard any actual garden-variety Jews express outrage that she said it. Obviously it was more of an attack on Sarah Palin that a sincere defense of the Jews' sensibilities.
I mean if the attack had happend on Sunday and Sarah used the term "bloody Sunday" to describe it, she'd have been criticized for offending the IRA, but not because the press cared anything about the IRA....they just hate Sarah Palin.
@Ed "...name any instance in which self-censorship took place so as not to offend the delicate, flower-like sensibilities of Jews?"
Helen Thomas
Agreed, you get a cookie.
But I hardly think that casually remarking about a country's regional expertise in pork processing being offensive to Muslims, is the same as Helen Thomas directly attacking Jews that they should get out of Palestine. Not exactly the same thing.
That said, Helen Thomas should have been allowed to say exactly what she said and not be expected to censor herself. The resultant drop in advertising with her rag would have been the free-market remedy she deserved.
Oklahoma First Grader Suspended For ‘Offensive’ Hand Gesture
"An Oklahoma boy got in trouble during an assembly at Parkview Elementary when he made a simple hand gesture. No, not that one. The first grader just made the childhood symbol for a gun, pretending he was shooting. The boy was placed on in-school suspension and threatened with more severe punishment should he repeat the gesture."
The Oklahoma school was just as silly as the Cadiz school. Which shows that Muslims aren't the only ones with peculiar beliefs.
@Ed "...name any instance in which self-censorship took place so as not to offend the delicate, flower-like sensibilities of Jews?"
Keith Olbermann
What? I don't watch Olby but based on what I've seen, he is the last person who might self-censor so as not to offend.
And the kid in Oklahoma is the victim of stupid zero-tolerance policies, not "peculiar beliefs".
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