Religious sensitivities leave comedians in fear of Islam

[Anthea]

You can't parody Islam, says Palin: Monty Python star believes religious sensitivities have increased so much it would be impossible to make Life of Brian today.



During his Monty Python days he poked fun at everyone from the Establishment to Christianity.

But thanks to the threat of ‘heavily armed’ fanatics, Michael Palin has admitted there is one comedy taboo he is too scared to break- Islam.

The 70-year-old said religious sensitivities have increased so much since his comedy days it would now be impossible to make 1979 film Life of Brian - which satirised the life of Jesus - let alone laugh at Muslims.

He said: ‘Religion is more difficult to talk about. I don’t think we could do Life of Brian any more. A parody of Islam would be even harder.

‘We all saw what happened to Salman Rushdie and none of us want to get into all that. It’s a pity but that’s the way it is. There are people out there without a sense of humour and they’re heavily armed.’



But he denied the comedy troupe - which also included John Cleese, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and the late Graham Chapman - deliberately targeted people with its comedy.

He said: ‘There’s probably a lot of political incorrectness in Python but we can’t rewrite it. I suppose attitudes have changed - a lot of British comedy at that time was ladies’ clothes falling off but in a rather sweet farcical way. Now what you can watch on television is incredibly explicit about sex.

‘When we were writing you couldn’t even talk about homosexuality at all.

‘Python has always been about dealing with things you’re not meant to deal with. It’s like being at school - as soon as the teacher said ‘it’s not funny’ you started laughing.’

He added: We didn’t target people and say “We’re going to have a go at this or that”. We were just writing what would make the six of us laugh.”

‘There are lots of laughs to be got from the way life is. The English love embarrassment. We are the ‘sorry’ society.



‘Someone punches you in the face and you will say “I’m terribly sorry my face was there. Is your hand all right?”

‘But each generation of comedians is looking for something new. It was only very recently before Python that somebody openly made a joke about the Prime Minister.

There was an establishment which still had to be respected. Now we can talk about anything ... and in an odd way it’s made us more depressed.’

Mr Palin was guest editor the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

He interviewed Mr Cleese for the show, but admitted the pair rarely meet and poked fun at the fact the Fawlty Towers star is constantly struggling to pay the costs of his divorce to third wife Alyce Eichelberger.

He told The Times: ‘I can never keep up with him. He’s always terribly rude about my travels - whenever he talks about them he yawns - but he’s always jetting around trying to make money for his alimony.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... today.html

[Piling]

In France it is Judaism that is taboo. Because of WWII, no one would like to be considered as anti-Jews, except anti-sionist groups, from extreme-left until extreme-right.

Many Muslims complain that everyone in France can charge Islam but no one dare to attack Judaism.

Many Christians complain that everyone can mock Pope and Church but no one dares to attack Islam.

etc. etc.

In fact only Buddhists are quiet in France.

[Anthea]

Most English people do not want Muslims here - me - I welcome everyone as long as the food is good

I have always felt far safer in Muslim areas than in Irish and other areas of London - a friend of mine was attacked by a Jamaican for £2 recently

When I go to a Muslim celebration I know that I will be treated with friendship and respect - my handbag will remain untouched exactly where I put it - my coat will still be waiting for me - and the food will be excellent

I absolutely LOVE all the different cultures - the art - the clothes - the music (especially Rammstein) - the smells - the Bollywood films - the Korean horror films - the food

Sadly nobody emphasis the good and the positive anymore

When people tell me they want to get rid of everyone and everything not English - I always point out that they would be lost without their tea - coffee - chocolate - sugar - fruit etc etc

[Piling]

But extreme-rightist party has not many voices in UK ? In France, our national fascists are the 3rd party

[Shirko]

Yeah because religion is not a joke. That is what the westerners can not comprehend in their thick stubborn heads. They think everything is a joke, that's why most of them are viewed as jokers, and they are un respectable. And a typical American will talk about sex, shitting and god all in one sentence, while he stuffing his face with some pork in the junk food. I smile in discust when my neighbors are picking up their dogs shit from my front yard (shit still smeared on my grass, and I can not even walk on that spot fir a couple of days). While they are waving hi to me, smiling proudly while carrying dog shit in a little plastic back to back home from the walk. These are the kind of people that joke about religion and god, like for example how they joke about Jesus all the time.

[Piling]

American are very very religious people, I think that 90% of them believe in God. But in many religious countries, jokes about religion are common… especially in Kurdistan, lol. Jokes about Mollahs, Allah, mosques etc, are very common. If you go to Kurdistan shut your ears The same in iran.

In France we don;t joke a lot about religions, precisely because it does not have a great importance.

[Shirko]

American are very very religious people, I think that 90% of them believe in God. But in many religious countries, jokes about religion are common… especially in Kurdistan, lol. Jokes about Mollahs, Allah, mosques etc, are very common. If you go to Kurdistan shut your ears The same in iran.

In France we don;t joke a lot about religions, precisely because it does not have a great importance.

I don't believe that they joke about religion in Kurdistan the same dirty way as they joke about religion in the West (this means that you cant not distingwush between joking and insulting). France allowed the Press to publish disrespectable about the prophet Mohammed. They are not much better, but I am sure they are more classy than most Americans.

[Shirko]

It's against my freedoms and basic human rights if people insult my religion or make dirty disgusting jokes about it, just like it is racisism to insult my ethnicity and race.

That's not freedom of speech, that's abuse and bullying (uncivilized behaviour) , and it should be illegal.

[Anthea]

Basic humans rights allows for the freedom of speech - joking about someone or something or is NOT the same as insulting someone or something - I say this as a person who had extremely bright ginger hair when I was younger.

Some of the comments I received were really funny - pushing me to the edge of the road to make the traffic stop because they said I looked like a belisha beacon - was an almost daily occurrence:



I sometimes had to endure dirty comments from men who wondered if other parts of my body were also covered in bright ginger hair

[Shirko]

Basic humans rights allows for the freedom of speech - joking about someone or something or is NOT the same as insulting someone or something - I say this as a person who had extremely bright ginger hair when I was younger.

Some of the comments I received were really funny - pushing me to the edge of the road to make the traffic stop because they said I looked like a belisha beacon - was an almost daily occurrence:



I sometimes had to endure dirty comments from men who wondered if other parts of my body were also covered in bright ginger hair

Excuse me, but did you bother reading anything that I wrote except that one sentence? Or do I have to repeat everything again?

Insulting my religion is against my freedom, you are a witch and you can not comprehend how it feels for me. So don't try to impose your values and birds on me. I don't care what you write or do, as long as you don't violate my space. Is that too hard to understand or what!?

[Anthea]

I repeat: "joking about someone or something or is NOT the same as insulting someone or something"

[talsor]

I repeat: "joking about someone or something or is NOT the same as insulting someone or something"

unless you know that the person on the receiving end gets offended with the joke then it is an insult and an intentional one .

[Shirko]

I repeat: "joking about someone or something or is NOT the same as insulting someone or something"

In what code of ethics or law book does it say that?
Thats your persensl opinion, I can't tell you what to do or not to do in private, but in a public place, it is then crossibg the line and offensive and it infringes on my rights at that point.

[Shirko]

This discussion shows how irrogant and hypocritical westerners really are. If their governments respected and helped to legally protect the rights and beliefs of all people. Then there would be no reason to fear any religion. Muslims can just use legal and civil means to defend themselves legally, instead of having to resort to violence. Westerners created all the Muslim fanatics and terrorists, its there fault and now they want to blame a religion for policy failures .

[Anthea]

As you well know I personally dislike all religious indoctrination - especially that of children - when a person reaches the age of consent they should be able to make up their own mind - I find the brainwashing of innocent children abhorrent and should be against the law - children deserve the freedom of choice

I find religions to be divisory - especially the Christian - Judaism - Islamic faiths which while ALL worshipping exactly the SAME God - they continue to use religion as a reason to kill each other - Catholics and Protestants - Sunni and Shia - I much prefer peace - sharing and unity

A persons personal beliefs should be exactly that - their personal beliefs - worship is about communicating with God - that should be private between them and God in their homes - or in a dedicated place of worship - the world would be a far happier and safer place if everyone kept their religious beliefs to themselves