(March 9, 2012 at 3:00 pm)thesummerqueen Wrote: Ungodlyfossil (a German with now-dead family who actually participated) makes Nazi jokes at me all the time simply because I'm Jewish. He frequently makes me laugh so hard I nearly puke. WTF is the difference?Even if I would be supposed to worry, I wouldn't.
Is he supposed to worry that he makes all Germans look bad?
If there are two things we germans take very seriously, then it's freedom of speech and humor/satire.
Btw: I have great respect for your jewish ancestors, Summer. If two of them hadn't found the same penny, we still wouldn't have copper wire.
I'll try to explain why I wouldn't worry, by using the initial posting as an example:
(March 9, 2012 at 12:02 pm)NoMoreFaith Wrote: Atheists need to stop responding to obvious Fundamentalist Statements with jokes about worshiping Satan etc.While I understand where NoMoreFaith is coming from and what he wants to say, I can't switch off my german mindset. I don't - and I can't - speak for all of my people, but I guess I am safe to say that most germans around the age of 30 and above would instantly (because it's a posting about making jokes) substitute "Atheists" with "Humorists/Satirists" and have, just as instantly, a problem with it.
The issue I have with it is that statements like this, while clearly a joke, have a detrimental effect on Atheism as a whole.
Now, Atheism isn't really a movement, its a description of a state of belief, but to me, that does not absolve you of obligations to those that share your philosophical stance.
The german would ask: "If we start here.... Where do we stop?"
If Atheists can't mock bullshit believers say, because this bullshit is sacrosanct to the believers, then what if satirists mock bullshit politicians say?
There certainly are people, to whom political opinions are just as sacrosanct as some beliefs are to theists. I actually know a few "political believers" and if you mock their party's agenda, they feel deeply, deeply offended.
So, as a german, I have to ask: If Atheists should stop mocking bullshit believers say, because that could "damage" atheism, would satirists and humorists have to stop mocking bullshit politicians (or other people) say, because it could damage satire or humor?
If we start granting people the "right not to be offended by humor", for example by making Atheists stop mocking believer's bullshit, then where do we stop?
Where is the point where courtesy ends and censorship begins?
"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"
-Douglas Adams
-Douglas Adams