Some thoughts on how some religions are more equal than others:
The “Book of Mormon”—a performance of which Hillary Clinton attended last year, without registering a complaint—comes to mind as the administration falls over itself denouncing “Innocence of Muslims.” This is a film that may or may not exist; whose makers are likely not who they say they are; whose actors claim to have known neither the plot nor purpose of the film; and which has never been seen by any member of the public except as a video clip on the Internet.
No matter. The film, the administration says, is “hateful and offensive” (Susan Rice), “reprehensible and disgusting” (Jay Carney) and, in a twist, “disgusting and reprehensible” (Hillary Clinton). Mr. Carney, the White House spokesman, also lays sole blame on the film for inciting the riots that have swept the Muslim world and claimed the lives of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three of his staff in Libya.
So let’s get this straight: In the consensus view of modern American liberalism, it is hilarious to mock Mormons and Mormonism but outrageous to mock Muslims and Islam. Why? Maybe it’s because nobody has ever been harmed, much less killed, making fun of Mormons.
Sanctimonious, hypocritical cowardice.
[Update a few minutes later]
Ignorance, too:
…isn’t it interesting that since 9/11 so few “liberals” or “progressives” in that media (and elsewhere for that matter) evince a serious interest in Islam? It’s hard to find one who knows much substantive about it. Few even know what taqiyya or dhimmi law are. I have had many blank stares from otherwise intelligent people when asking even rudimentary questions.
I think the reason for this is a convenient and largely deliberate ignorance. Liberals know if they scratch the surface of Islam all the misogyny and homophobia will come pouring out, not to mention the tenets of Sharia with its attendant superiority of religious law to state law and the consequent abolition of the separation of church and state — all values and goals supposedly anathema to the liberal mind. Trying to reconcile those things with the policies of their hero-president would make their heads explode, so better not to know about them.
Easier to keep a head from exploding when it’s buried in the sand.
I have read that the LDS church is so insulted by The Book of Mormon that they have bought ads in the Playbills handed out to the audience.
(And from what I have heard, while the show pokes fun at Mormons, it recognizes them as sincere, caring people. Sort of how The Big Bang Theory treats scientists/geeks.)
The show is pretty offensive to Mormons. But once you rule out killing people, you have to meet speech with speech. Pretty crazy concept, I know.
They’re offended? Killing Americans because they can is quite offensive to me.
That we have a feckless current administration with it’s anti-American ideology is offensive to me.
I say we unload the Amish (Harrison Ford in Witness) to give then a load of whipass (was Nixon really a Quaker?)
If I were king, they wouldn’t be dancing in the streets after 9-11, they’d all be too busy hiding in caves.
We need to be the opposite of feckless… we need to effectively deal with these issues with firm and consistent actions over generations.
We start by fixing the idiocy of our own people and marginalizing those that think that ‘progressive liberals’ make any sense at all. We start by taking away their taxpayer funding. TANSTAAFL. We get back to founding principles. …or we just fade away and the American experiment in exceptionalism dies.
I’ve seen Book of Mormon, and I have to concur. It’s only offensive if you’re not actually paying attention. In the classic Parker & Stone way, it takes a seemingly offensive roundabout path to actually saying something nice about Mormonism and religion in general. I’ve heard it described accurately as an atheist love letter to religion. Without spoiling too much, the show essentially posits that religion in general, and Mormonism in particular, are full of shit factually, but that the bullshit they promote can in fact do real good in the world, so it’s pretty much okay.
Still, if the show had been done about Islam, they’d be burning embassies, because their rage is largely manufactured by their clerics and manipulators.
There was a South Park episode that seems to be the seed of the musical, and the upshot of the episode was largely as Scott and ech have mentioned – that although the origin of the faith is a little, in the show’s word, “dumb,” the followers of the faith are by and large decent family-oriented friendly people. Given that other South Park episodes have heartily skewered, for instance, Catholicism, the Mormons do fairly well.
As a Mormon, I wasn’t that offended by the South Park episode. I’m not going to go see the musical, probably, but it’s not that big a deal. We know how to take a little ribbing. Now, if they did Qur’an the Musical? Look what happened when they did an episode where Mohammed never speaks and is dressed in a bear suit so you never see him!
I listened to an interview with the SOUTH PARK guys who created the Broadway show, and they said two very interesting things: that they had never met a Mormon who wasn’t a decent person; and that contrary to what people had warned them–that the Mormons would be outraged, picket the theater, sue, etc., etc., they knew from the beginning that the Mormons would be “cool” with the show–or at least, not go into some kind of “Mormon jihad.” Contrast that with the reaction a show called “The Koran,” making fun of Mohammed, would engender.
The Master will not have people rioting in the streets or people on the left wanting to restrict free speech.
Although Drudge has reported that the “Church of Scientology” (oxymoron) is threatening legal action against the movie.