Should you or should you not
By vanny
@vandana7 (98830)
India
November 7, 2020 3:33am CST
We all have reasons we hurt.
I am dark, I am short, I am flabby, I am stupid, I am careless, I am hasty. You can add many negatives there.
We do not like being told that though. My darkness, height, flab does not affect my bank balance and yet, I am conscious about it.
It is my belief that my social standing is dependent upon it. I want people to accept me for what I am instead of looking at my shortcomings.
Belief in religion is pretty much that too, according to me.
I believe I belong to a cohort because I conform to a belief.
Laughing at my beliefs, or ridiculing me on my physical appearance, pretty much will annoy me. Do I look stupid to you to continue believing what I have believed in since childhood?
So why ridicule? Why does it have to become right under the umbrella of freedom of speech if it hurts me, angers me, makes me feel inferior in some way, simply because I hold a belief.
Every religion has some parts that cannot be digested easily. In Hinduism, how can a woman have 100 children in external pots like some aliens? Or a woman be willing to let her 7 babies die brutally so that the 8th one survives to kill her brother? With respect to Christianity people from other religion will wonder how can a virgin be a mother and how was it proved that she was a virgin. Yes, there are questions. So also in Islam.
Leave the religion be. Interact as humans. When we provoke, there will be a reaction. We cannot say you should only react this way. There are no fixed rule books on how reactions should come because provocation itself is not permitted.
I am not endorsing the brutal beheading in France. But I am not happy with how the belief is ridiculed either. Freedom of speech ceases to be such if it leads to crimes and protests. There, we have to draw boundaries for ourselves and possibly retrace our steps.
My thinking. You do not have to conform to it, of course.
11 people like this
12 responses
@WorDazza (15833)
• Manchester, England
7 Nov 20
Can't really argue with the central point of this post.
I do, however have to disagree regarding the beheading of the French teacher. He was teaching a class which was discussing freedom of speech and freedom of expression and was in no way ridiculing anyone's beliefs. If he'd wanted to ridicule people's beliefs he wouldn't have suggested that anyone who may be offended by the cartoons should leave the classroom. Someone stayed in order to be purposely outraged.
Your statement "Freedom of speech ceases to be such if it leads to crimes and protests" I'm afraid is a very naive viewpoint and has pretty frightening consequences. We are living in times where we have large sections of society who are trying their hardest to find something that offends them. According to your statement then all a group has to do is protest about somebody's viewpoint and that viewpoint should be shut down. You're talking mob rule!!
And there is never any excuse for committing heinous crimes just because someone said something you don't like or don't agree with.
The problem with the world today is far too many people think the world would be a much better place if only everyone thought the same way as them. Newsflash: Nobody is perfect. In fact we are all d1ckheads, every last one of us. Just in different ways.
3 people like this
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
7 Nov 20
@WorDazza I'm truly not a religious fanatic, but I do believe in God. That said most people follow blindly without question. Have you read any history on Catholics and Christianity? Most bible thumping churchgoers I know would faint if any question about sexuality or virginity arose. LOL From the beginning of time religion was used to run countries and that was what the wars were about. The territory for the religion.
2 people like this
@vandana7 (98830)
• India
7 Nov 20
I have neither justified nor condoned the heinous crimes which I do feel are plain wrong. I am merely saying that specific example of a religion should not have been taken up by a SCHOOL TEACHER.
I feel issues are coming on stronger because we are becoming briefer in our way of expressing, and for expressing, we are using powerful language. Its pretty much like screenplay of somebody's life. Only the important part is stressed.
Tact was needed I feel, and being circumspect too. I have had Muslims ask me how come nobody questions Mother Mary's virginity and how did they confirm that she was a virgin? Yeah, those kinda questions can cause discomfort to Christians. Why encroach a territory at all. Especially when issues are not yet on back burner.
1 person likes this
@WorDazza (15833)
• Manchester, England
7 Nov 20
@vandana7 But most Christians wouldn't be uncomfortable having Mary's virginity questioned.
They certainly wouldn't chop somebody's head off for doing so.
In any case why should religious people be protected from having their beliefs questioned? If they're so sure of their faith then it really shouldn't be a problem. And when that faith is used as a basis for a country's laws then all the more reason to question it.
2 people like this
@sabtraversa (12938)
• Italy
7 Nov 20
I believe there's always a way to express one's belief or opinion without harming other people.
That's my belief and it's crazy as much as anybody else's, I bet. 
I don't like criticism when it is not constructive either, but at the same time I realize how many people need to take self-irony lessons, for their own sake. I think both sides need to find some balance.
Either way, I would never consider killing to avenge an insult. I let karma do the dirty job. 
I don't like criticism when it is not constructive either, but at the same time I realize how many people need to take self-irony lessons, for their own sake. I think both sides need to find some balance.
Either way, I would never consider killing to avenge an insult. I let karma do the dirty job. 3 people like this
@Namelesss (3368)
• United States
7 Nov 20
Oh people learn for sure. That is not the problem. The problem is new people keep getting added to the population and then they have to learn. To bad we don't have instinctual memory on our side like most other animals.
3 people like this
@yoalldudes (35040)
• Philippines
7 Nov 20
We have a lot to learn about respect and tolerance.
2 people like this
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
7 Nov 20
Is is what is inside that that matters. What a person beholds is beautiful really is. We must all learn to be more tolerant to different religions. Ireland has Protestants and Catholics. It is horrible that Hitler didn't like Jewish people. I have travelled to some Muslim countries and I have always felt safe. All people should get on well together.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (98830)
• India
7 Nov 20
@DianneN I will tell you for example, Muslims in India are all labeled as pedophiles, and rapists, simply because their scripture is supposed to have something to the effect that the Prophet married a small girl, and they have 4 wives. That is not logical!. We do not know if other kings of that era in the region had more wives. In India, Hindus had more wives. And at times kings married minors too. So the rights and wrongs differ as per era also. Picking on them, just because there is a major record is pretty much targeting. I feel fanaticism increases because of such behavior. The person being targeted becomes defensive and tries to justify the wrong. How does that help in fostering amicability?
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156195)
• United States
7 Nov 20
You have a right to believe in what you believe and not be ridiculed for it.
