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Sunday, May 23, 2010

Buffalo Shit Baptist

Officially, the name Waxahachie means "buffalo creek," but local lore long had it that the Indian name for the town near Dallas actually meant "buffalo shit."

Of course, no one thinks that referring to a local church as "Waxahachie Baptist" is blasphemous -- but some in the Bible belt might well take umbrage at "Buffalo Shit Baptist." Yet such umbrage would be no reason for the pulling out of shootin' irons.

Remember the great Virgin Mary elephant shit scandal that erupted in pre-9/11 New York City? Many Catholics were outraged that the Brooklyn Museum of Art was exhibiting a painting by Chris Ofili of a black African Virgin Mary surrounded by images from blaxploitation films and close-ups of female genitalia taken from porno mags; the painting was gloriously daubed with elephant dung. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani filed a lawsuit to try to force the museum, which received public funds, to remove it from display.

The mayor however didn't consult with the Gambino crime family in order to put out a death fatwa against the artist.

The Pakistani government, clearly in response to domestic pressure, has filed a protest with the U.S. government over the internet sensation Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, which was a response to censorship of a South Park episode after jihadist menacings.

Such menacings must be taken seriously. Dutch filmmaker Theodore van Gogh was slain by a Muslim fanatic in 2004 for a film he made concerning treatment of women in Islam. Salman Rushdie, the British author of The Satanic Verses, was condemned to death in 1989 by Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, who also wanted everyone involved in publication of the book in England killed. Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks was recently rushed by Muslim students unhappy with his views; more seriously, he was reportedly targeted for assassination by American Colleen LaRose, also known as "Jihad Jane," because of Vilk's cartoons of Mohammed.

Cartoons of Mohammed? Some Muslims see blasphemy. But -- get this straight -- there is a right to blaspheme in America; that's the how free free speech is.

In the last 100 years or so, Americans have often found cartoons of religious icons amusing. Cartoons of Moses on Mount Sinai or Noah and his ark are continually used as means of poking fun at modern foibles. In previous centuries, such drawings would have been considered sacrilegous and the artist would have been fortunate to escape with his life. Now, most Americans don't mind at all, and those who do are entitled to their opinions, but not entitled to tell the rest of us what we can laugh about.

The Pakistan government needs to be told that there is a right to blaspheme in America, and that that right is protected. One big reason for the First Amendment protection of freedom of speech and religion was to take the government out of the religion business. For too many centuries, people were executed over quibbles about theological issues because these issues affected control of the state. In fact, today many Christians believe that the blasphemy charge against Jesus was bogus, that he was really executed because his teachings, they believe, were feared by the power elite who were exploiting the  state religion as a system they ran for their own benefit.

Unfortunately, once alleged Christianity became a state religion, the power elite continued the controlling of religious utterance, with many disciples of Jesus harassed and even executed for sticking too closely to the Master's teachings. But America's First Amendment gives room for the preaching of the gospel. God can handle the "marketplace of ideas," even though believers of various backgrounds are rightly wary of the snares of "the world."

In America at its best, we tolerate one another's views, even when they are personally offensive. There is no church-state inquisition that would require Galileo to recant his belief that the earth revolved about the sun.

On a personal level, I think the casual use of the phrase "Oh my God" or even "OMG" is bothersome, not because God isn't patient with his children, but because such flippancy does not show him proper respect. But, I would never require anyone -- other than my own minor children, if I still had any -- to refrain from such talk. It's not my business. God can deal with the "blasphemers," if he wishes, without me taking up arms.

A local Jewish newspaper, concerned about the sensibilities of the ultra-Orthodox, won't print the word "God." Sometimes, however, "G...d" is permitted. As far as I'm concerned, that scruple is overly fussy. But if that's how they want to handle it, they are allowed.

In parts of the Old West, the Indians referred to the cowboys as "goddamns" because of the frequency with which the word peppered their speech. And I remember Westerners of yesteryear who spoke just like that. Ordinarily I don't use that phrase for the same reason I try to avoid "OMG." But, I am not the judge of people who speak that way. Let them.

I was at a street fair today and a local Islamic group gave me a Koran and other Islamic literature. In a free country, they have the right to proseletyze. We don't issue fatwas against them for so doing. We don't believe in violent attacks on mosques -- though that doesn't mean culture clash doesn't occur.

The reason I backed Everybody Draw Mohammed Day is because Americans must always resist censorship, whether for religious or political reasons (actually the alleged religious reason usually is at root political). If government or religious officials tell us "no," then it is our duty to publish exactly what they don't want.

Get used to it: It's a free country.

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