Green Energy
Yours truly was censored on a Yahoo! Groups discussion list recently for using a word. The word was “Muzzies”.
The odd thing is that the censoring organisation was the UK’s Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA), which, as its name suggests, is not especially fond of religion. And it’s less fond – or should be – of religions that like to bash gays.
I can’t say I’ve been that frequent a poster, but I’ve posted a fair few over the years. I won’t be doing so again, except to respond to something that really needs a response.
What rubbed salt into the wounds was that a member of the GALHA committee – who censor members’ posts to that discussion list – said the word was akin to “Paki” and “nigger”. Well is it? You wuold have to have a pretty skewed sense of etymology to think so. Those words are distinctly racist, and to be discouraged (although I personally wouldn’t go so far as to censor them, but would merely expect others, and possibly myself, to come into the discussion and give the culprit a verbal going-over, because racism just isn’t acceptable). “Muzzies”, on the other hand, is clearly referring to a religious persuasion.
To give the censors their due, they allowed my next post onto the list, but could they have done otherwise, since in it I felt I had to rebut the accusation of racism? The word “Muzzies” was then used – in my post – because we were now discussing the word rather than merely using it.
Now why am I talking on here about a dispute on a discussion list over the use of a word? Well the word does concern Muslims, which this blog is about. The word was mildly piss-taking, which is what antireligion organisations do (certainly my other blog, Pink Triangle, does, as does another favourite of mine, the Freethinker). And, of course, censorship was afoot.
And I’ve blogged on here before about how the UK is appeasing Muslims, the very people who pose such a threat to our culture, and especially to gays and lesbians, of whom I am one (well, gay, not lesbian – at least not the last time I looked).
I don’t expect this sort of appeasement from a “humanist” organisation. While I would expect it to get excited over out-and-out racism, I don’t expect such groups to waste valuable energy censoring the word “Muzzies”.
By the way, for those of you who are gay, or straight but gay-friendly, and/or are atheists, freethinkers, agnostics, we’ve set up an alternative discussion group called Gaytheist, which can be found on Pink Triangle sidebar or by sticking your email address in the box below.
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Green Energy
Censorship
Yours truly was censored on a Yahoo! Groups discussion list recently for using a word. The word was “Muzzies”.
The odd thing is that the censoring organisation was the UK’s Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA), which, as its name suggests, is not especially fond of religion. And it’s less fond – or should be – of religions that like to bash gays.
I can’t say I’ve been that frequent a poster, but I’ve posted a fair few over the years. I won’t be doing so again, except to respond to something that really needs a response.
What rubbed salt into the wounds was that a member of the GALHA committee – who censor members’ posts to that discussion list – said the word was akin to “Paki” and “nigger”. Well is it? You wuold have to have a pretty skewed sense of etymology to think so. Those words are distinctly racist, and to be discouraged (although I personally wouldn’t go so far as to censor them, but would merely expect others, and possibly myself, to come into the discussion and give the culprit a verbal going-over, because racism just isn’t acceptable). “Muzzies”, on the other hand, is clearly referring to a religious persuasion.
To give the censors their due, they allowed my next post onto the list, but could they have done otherwise, since in it I felt I had to rebut the accusation of racism? The word “Muzzies” was then used – in my post – because we were now discussing the word rather than merely using it.
Now why am I talking on here about a dispute on a discussion list over the use of a word? Well the word does concern Muslims, which this blog is about. The word was mildly piss-taking, which is what antireligion organisations do (certainly my other blog, Pink Triangle, does, as does another favourite of mine, the Freethinker). And, of course, censorship was afoot.
And I’ve blogged on here before about how the UK is appeasing Muslims, the very people who pose such a threat to our culture, and especially to gays and lesbians, of whom I am one (well, gay, not lesbian – at least not the last time I looked).
I don’t expect this sort of appeasement from a “humanist” organisation. While I would expect it to get excited over out-and-out racism, I don’t expect such groups to waste valuable energy censoring the word “Muzzies”.
By the way, for those of you who are gay, or straight but gay-friendly, and/or are atheists, freethinkers, agnostics, we’ve set up an alternative discussion group called Gaytheist, which can be found on Pink Triangle sidebar or by sticking your email address in the box below.
- Nothing Changes On New Year's Day
Shalom, all. The new year 2011 is already more than 24 hours old here in the fair Melayu Islamic Republic. Events in 2011, unfortunately, seem decidedly 'old year' with an Islamic-inspired church bombing in Egypt. The new year looks...
- I Know This Has Nothing To Do With The Theme Of Iba
Please read this story. Any student who uses the word could be suspended from Danvers High School in Massachusetts! Many parents are just fine with the ban on the word "meep," a word popularized by Beaker on The Muppet Show and the cartoon character...
- Stone All Gays, Says Islamic Nutjob
“If a man likes another man, it can happen, but if you go on to fulfil your desire, if it is proved, then there is a punishment to follow [. . .] There are some people who are attracted to donkeys but that does not mean it is right.” These are the...
- Dancing To The Muslims' Tune
We all have to dance around Muslim festivals now, it seems. In Bosnia, these bleating religion-soaked idiots are knocking the gay community for having the audacity to hold an LGB event during Ramadan, which has just begun. Quite apart from the sheer impudence...
- How Our World Views Affect Our Decision-making
Via OPFOR I want to do a quick thought exercise with you, before jumping into the main text of this post. I want to do a word association. I’ll write a word, and you tell me the first thing that comes to your mind. No tricks, no jokes, just think about...