RE: Should Rolf Harris be stripped of his awards?
July 17, 2014 at 9:50 am
(This post was last modified: July 17, 2014 at 9:55 am by ManMachine.)
(July 17, 2014 at 3:14 am)Aractus Wrote: My answer is no, yet he has been stripped of many honours which is understandable, however it's a dangerous path to go down. A convicted criminal shouldn't be hindered by his past to pursue his professional career, and on that note I don't think it's appropriate to strip awards that he was given after the time of the offences he committed. It sends the wrong message - the message that anyone with a sex-crime history is unworthy to pursue their passion and achieve.
What I think is probably more relevant is that awards like the OBE, KBE, MBE, etc. were all founded on a concept of the British Empire at a time when we were committing all kinds of vile acts to peoples across the world. A friend of mine was awarded an OBE, he's black and well known for his opinions on racial equality, especially in America where he now works. I pointed out to him what his OBE represents, it's a hang-over from a time when his ancestors were being brutally subjugated in the name of the British Empire and now he wears the badge. He's not exactly happy with me right now but he knows I'm right.
Scrap them all. Outdated, inappropriate, jingoistic bollocks.
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
