"Being offended" as a means for forcing a belief system upon others

We now all know about the Danish cartoon case and the enormous outrage and uproar in the Muslim world about them, as well as the South Park case, but here are some more examples - it's a pattern, isn't it? Seems to me like outrage is used as a tactic, as a strategy to make others submit to a certain belief system.

Muslims outraged at police advert featuring cute puppy sitting in policeman's hat



By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

A postcard featuring a cute puppy sitting in a policeman's hat advertising a Scottish police force's new telephone number has sparked outrage from Muslims.
Tayside Police's new non-emergency phone number has prompted complaints from members of the Islamic community.
The choice of image on the Tayside Police cards - a black dog sitting in a police officer's hat - has now been raised with Chief Constable John Vine.

Tayside Police caused uproar in the Muslim community after they released this advertisement featuring police puppy Rebel sitting in a hat
The advert has upset Muslims because dogs are considered ritually unclean and has sparked such anger that some shopkeepers in Dundee have refused to display the advert.
Dundee councillor Mohammed Asif said: 'My concern was that it's not welcomed by all communities, with the dog on the cards.
'It was probably a waste of resources going to these communities.
'They (the police) should have understood. Since then, the police have explained that it was an oversight on their part, and that if they'd seen it was going to cause upset they wouldn't have done it.'
Councillor Asif, who is a member of the Tayside Joint Police Board, said that the force had a diversity adviser and was generally very aware of such issues.
He raised the matter with Mr Vine at a meeting of the board.

Tayside Police Chief Constable John Vine said the advert was not intended to cause any offence
The chief constable said he was unaware of the concerns and that the force had not sought to cause any upset but added he would look into the matter.
Councillor Asif said: 'People who have shops just won't put up the postcard. But the police have said to me that it was simply an oversight and they did not seek to offend or upset.'
Cards featuring police dog-in-training Rebel have been distributed to communities throughout the area to advertise the single number point of contact for non-emergency calls to the police.
Rebel has proved a popular recruit for Tayside Police after coming through the very first Lothian and Borders Police dog-breeding programme in February.
One of seven German Shepherd pups born in early December, he has now completed his course of inoculations, and is free to venture out onto the streets of Tayside.
A spokesman for Tayside Police said: 'Trainee police dog Rebel has proved extremely popular with children and adults since being introduced to the public, aged six weeks old, as Tayside Police's newest canine recruit.
'His incredible world-wide popularity - he has attracted record visitor numbers to our website - led us to believe Rebel could play a starring role in the promotion of our non-emergency number.
'We did not seek advice from the force's diversity adviser prior to publishing and distributing the postcards. That was an oversight and we apologise for any offence caused.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...turing-cute-puppy-sitting-policemans-hat.html



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Muslim outrage as Yusuf al-Qaradawi refused UK visa



Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi, chairing the European Council of Fatwa and Research in London in 2004

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a controversial Muslim cleric who defends suicide attacks, has been refused a visa to enter to the UK after a campaign by David Cameron.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said that it deplored the decision and accused the government of caving in to “unreasonable demands spearheaded by the Tory leader”.

Muhammad Abdul Bari, the secretary-general of the MCB, said that Dr al-Qaradawi enjoyed respect as a scholar throughout the Muslim world.

“I am afraid this decision will send the wrong message to Muslims everywhere about the state of British society and culture,” he said.

“Britain has had a long and established tradition of free speech, debate and intellectual pursuit. These principles are worth defending, especially if we would like to see them spread throughout the world.”

The British Muslim Initiative (BMI) described the decision to bar al-Qaradawi, an “eminent scholar”, as “an unwarranted insult to British Muslims”.

Muhammad Sawalha, the BMI president, said: “We would have to go as far back as the medieval age when scholars were hounded and vilified in order to find a similar retrograde decision.”

The 81-year-old Egyptian-born preacher is now based in Qatar and makes regular appearances on al-Jazeera television, clad in white robes, where he denounces anti-Muslim sentiment in the European media.

Sources close to Dr al- Qaradawi said that his visa application had had support within the Home and Foreign Offices. "But the Zionist lobby placed huge pressures to block the visa application and Prime Minister Gordon Brown eventually backed that position," they added.

It is understood that Dr al-Qaradawi, who is banned from entering the United States, applied for a medical visa almost a year ago. In August he was hospitalised for a stomach ulcer, and in November he was treated for a cracked vertebra apparently caused by a slipped disc.

In a fax from the British embassy in Doha, his application was refused, reportedly citing Article 41 of the United Nations charter, which relates to threats to peace and security.

The cleric last visited the UK in 2004, where he was welcomed by Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, and chaired the annual meeting of the European Council of Fatwa and Research at London's City Hall.

His visit prompted protests from Jewish groups and gay people, who regard him as anti-Semitic and homophobic. He has called for the death penalty for homosexuality and the destruction of the state of Israel.

In the same year, the cleric defended suicide attacks on Israelis during a BBC interview, saying: “It’s not suicide, it is martyrdom in the name of God." He added that it did not matter if women and children were the victims of such attacks.

The cleric is also said to preach that husbands should beat disobedient wives.

In 2006 Dr al-Qaradawi was told that he would be granted a visa to enter Britain for a meeting in Manchester, with the authorisation of Charles Clarke, the then Home Secretary, but in the event he did not attend.

Last week Mr Cameron clashed with Gordon Brown in the Commons over Dr al-Qaradawi, as he described him as “dangerous and divisive”, and called on the Government not to let him into the country.

“Two months ago I identified and named specifically in this house a number of preachers of hate who should not be allowed into this country," said Mr Cameron.

“Will you confirm that the Government has accepted this as well and won’t be allowing Yusuf al-Qaradawi into Britain - yes or no?”

Mr Brown refused to issue a snap decision on the visa application, saying it would be announced “very soon” and insisting that proper judicial processes had to be followed.

To Tory jeers, Mr Brown replied: “In 2006 a decision was made not to exclude him. We are looking at that again. He has applied to come into this country. A decision will be made in due course. It has to go through the proper judicial processes. But he has not been allowed into this country at this stage.”

Today David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, welcomed the visa ruling. "Not before time the Government has finally acted after pressure from David Cameron," he said.

“The Government's approach to preachers of hate has been at best timid and at worst downright useless. Now it is time for them to take a robust approach across the board."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3325439.ece

 

South African Muslims upset over FIFA World Cup balls



Souvenir soccer balls for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be hosted in South Africa next year have angered South African Muslims because they have an Arabic inscription that is considered sacred and are going to be kicked around. But FIFA has denied any knowledge of such balls, with local organisers believing that the balls on sale now are probably pirate versions of the officially sanctioned version of the ball.

The Jamiatul Ulama (Council of Muslim Theologians) of South Africa said that the balls being circulated featured the national flags of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, which all have the Arabic inscription with which Muslims proclaim their faith by declaring that there is only one Allah and that Mohammed is his messenger and prophet.

“These flags carry Islamic proclamations considered sacred by Muslims. Usage in this manner has the potential of offending adherents of the Islamic faith,” the Council said in a statement.

FIFA’s media officer Delia Fischer said a check with its licensees in South Africa had shown that they were not aware of any football advertisements using Muslim symbols.

Reassuring the Muslim community here that FIFA had noted its concerns and that they could be assured of FIFA’s “utmost respect”, Fischer added that FIFA as a sporting body would never use any religious elements or messages in its promotional items.

The Jamiatul Ulama said it had noted an upsurge in the use of Islamic texts in advertising in recent months for a wide range of goods.

“Muslims handle and dispose of such sacred texts with utmost respect. We would therefore like to bring to the attention of publishers, advertisers, printers, publicists and all concerned the sensitivities the Muslim community has about the use of any type of media with sacred Islamic text,” the Council said, offering assistance to advertising agencies in determining the appropriateness of Arabic texts, arabesque art and calligraphy “which may have subtly embedded sacred text”.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal...pset-over-fifa-world-cup-balls_100118799.html

 

Group finds Starbucks logo too hot to handle



Seems that one person's smut is another person's morning latte.

A Christian group based in San Diego found grounds for outrage over the new retro-style logo for Starbucks Coffee.

The Resistance says the new image "has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute," Mark Dice, founder of the group, said in a news release. "Need I say more? It's extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves Slutbucks."

The group, which claims more than 3,000 members nationwide and has found a place on the fringe advancing various conspiracy theories, is calling for a national boycott of the coffee-selling giant.

The logo will run on Starbucks cups for "several more weeks," said company spokeswoman Bridget Baker, and will live on as the logo for Pike Place bags of coffee.

The image is a less-revealing version of what the chain used for many years, starting when it first opened in Seattle in 1971. That original logo was resurrected in its Northwest outlets for a time in 2006 to mark the chain's 35th anniversary.

Baker said the newly revived logo was "modified a bit [from the original] based on feedback" from Starbucks customers during its 2006 appearance. "We feel it's appropriate," she said.

The explanation for that initial logo is explained in the book "Pour Your Heart into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time," written by company founder Howard Schultz:

"[Creative partner Terry Heckler] poured [sic] over old marine books until he came up with a logo based on an old 16 Century Norse woodcut: a two-tailed mermaid, or siren, encircled by the store's original name, Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice. That early siren, bare-breasted and Rubenesque, was supposed to be as seductive as coffee itself."

http://www.startribune.com/nation/18969709.html

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Christians outraged by poster showing Mary and Joseph after sex



The large poster depicts a dejected-looking Joseph lying next to Mary, whose eyes are turned heavenwards, under the words: "Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow."
Both figures, painted in classical fresco style, appear to be naked.

Within hours of the billboard being erected outside the Anglican church of St Matthew's in the City, in central Auckland, it had been attacked by a man who clambered on to the roof of his car to smear brown paint over it.
As a result it was almost obliterated and the church, which describes itself as "progressive", is seeking a replacement.
Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the billboard was intended to lampoon the literal interpretation of the Christmas conception story "and that somehow this male God impregnated Mary".
"What we're trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about," he said.
"We actually think God is about the power of love as shown in Jesus, which is something quite different than a literal man up in the sky."
He said the church had asked an advertising agency to come up with ideas for the poster and the one they had chosen was not the most radical.
"One of the options we turned down had a sperm coming down with the words 'Joy to the World'," he said.
St Matthew's was inundated with angry phone calls and emails soon after the billboard appeared at a busy street corner on Thursday.
The poster also sparked a barrage of comments to radio stations and on internet websites.
Among leading critics was Lyndsay Freer, a spokesman for the Catholic Church, who said: "This is disrespectful and offensive to all Christians.
"It's flying in the face of our 2,000-year-old beliefs," she said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...poster-showing-Mary-and-Joseph-after-sex.html

 

I think all these groups who are constantly "offended" should just STFU and find something better to do with their time.

Is my impression correct, though, that when there is Christian "outrage", the "outraged" people are truly a small fringe group that nobody else cares about, whereas in some cases - at least in the Danish cartoon case - the outrage is much more widespread and forceful in the Islamic world?

 

B-Bob: I'm offended .

 

No they don't. And you don't seriously think it is a possibility that they did that puppy ad to provoke Muslims, do you?