(no subject)

[ineffabelle]

"President Nicolas Sarkozy declared Monday that the Islamic burqa is not welcome in France".  Later after a few glasses of wine he was overheard to mutter "Tits or GTFO".



(note: I made that last sentence up)

Comments

[sammhain.livejournal.com]

right because freedom of speech stops at religion amirite?

I'm no fan of Sarkozy but by the same token I'm sick to shit of the idea that freedom of religion means those of us who are not religious can never utter a bad word about religious beliefs.

[jesuisgringoire.livejournal.com]

right because freedom of speech stops at religion amirite?

in France it sure does...except for the religious, not the secularists.

I'm sick to shit of the idea that freedom of religion means those of us who are not religious can never utter a bad word about religious beliefs.

that ain't happening in France. they've outright banned a great many forms of public religious expression. you can't wear your own symbols in their schools. the paternalistic laïcité mentality gives enormous privilege to secularists...I don't think in this particular context (to be painfully clear, the French context) they have the slightest justification for complaint. Americans may give Kri$tianity an unwarranted special place in public discourse, but when the American ideal is upheld in its pure form, it beats the hell out of the homogenizing, cultural imperialist French version.

[terry-terrible.livejournal.com]

Americans may give Kri$tianity an unwarranted special place in public discourse, but when the American ideal is upheld in its pure form, it beats the hell out of the homogenizing, cultural imperialist French version.

This is true. France expects immigrants to be frencher than the french or GTFO. See how well that's worked for them?

[agaitis-byrjun.livejournal.com]

This. We're not quite there yet, but I'd much rather live under our secular government, where we still have personal choice in the expression of our culture, than under France's government.

permettez-moi d'être désagréable...

[jesuisgringoire.livejournal.com]

heh, I now feel obligated to point out that our treatment of our dark-skinned southern immigrants isn't a hell of a lot better. there's at least one state where it's a felony to give a border-jumper food, and I'm not sure linguistic cultural imperialism (speak AMURCAN!) is any better than its religious counterpart...it's a devaluing of their native symbolic discourse either way. in the case of the US government, our agricultural and trade policy created the immigration issue in the first place, so suffice it to say my intention was not to imply the US government is any better in general, just on this one specific issue, in ideal cases.

Re: permettez-moi d'être désagréable...

[agaitis-byrjun.livejournal.com]

saying I prefer to live under the U.S. government rather than the French government =/= OMG AMERICA IS THE BEST COUNTRY EVER YOU GUYZ

[jesuisgringoire.livejournal.com]

haha, understood.