Jerry Springer The Opera Freedom Of Expression Loving Christians Try To Prosecute Jerry Springer The OperaThe Danish cartoons saga has by now been burned on to consciousness of both Muslims and anti-Islam bigots alike. The episode pitted a mainly Christian secular west that loved to protect the freedom of expression against an intolerant barbaric Muslim world.

At the heart of the controversy was the publication by a Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten of cartoons lampooning the Prophet of Islam. At the time the west in unison cried out to the Muslim world that they would not be intimidated by Muslim demands that the cartoons be retracted. For the west the publication of the cartoons were in their very essence a representation of the right of freedom of expression. Muslims were told in no uncertain terms that they must learn that in civilised western Christian nations there are absolutely no” scared cows” especially when it came to religion. Everything from God to an electron is open to insult and ridicule. As a result of the cartoons many Muslims died in protests and some Scandinavia embassies were attacked in the Middle East.

Since the controversy and the subsequent violent protests carried out by Muslims occurred in 2005 there have been a string of western personalities from the Pope to politicians who have made observations whether about Islam or its followers that Muslims have found insulting or demeaning. At every turn the reply from the west has been unified and namely that civilised peoples and nations allow freedom of expression therefore the Muslims will just have to shut up.

I personally believe in the notion of freedom of expression and have in essence no problem with it. The comments section of this weblog is a testament to this fact. Non-Muslim contributors have made the most vile comments about Islam and Muslims and in return have not banned them nor have their comments been deleted.

As the simpleton Muslim I took the pronouncements by western religious leaders, intellectuals and artists regarding freedom of expression at face value and left the matter knowing that such freedom was a cultural characteristic that was solely western and that Muslims had a great deal to learn about such matters.

Since the Danish cartoons controversy there have come to light a succession of news reports from western nations prosecuting their citizens for expressing views . People such as Bruno Gollnisch, a leading French politician in Jean-Marie Le Pen’s Front National who was fined $71,400 for denying the holocaust. Then there was the case of a prosecution of a piece of art in Italy that comprised of a toilet flushing to the Italian national anthem. The prosecuting authorities claimed that the toilet was an “offence to the nation”. More recently we have had the case of two Spanish cartoonists Manel Fontdevila and Guillermo Torres who were fined €3000 each for ridiculing the Crown Prince of Spain and his wife.

Now word is coming from Britain of the latest attempt at censorship by civilised westerners who believe in the fundamental human right of freedom of expression.

This story revolves around a musical entitled “Jerry Springer The Opera“. The show caused offence to Christians because of its use of profanity and its depiction of Judeo-Christian themes. The musical show played in London for 2 years and was broadcast on television via BBC 2 in January 2005.

Evangelical Christians have brought the show back into the news spotlight as they are trying to bring a private prosecution against the producers of the show and the BBC for blasphemy:

“CHRISTIAN evangelists launched a High Court battle today for the right to bring a private prosecution for blasphemy over Jerry Springer – The Opera.

Lord Justice Hughes and Mr Justice Collins were told that the show was said to be “an offensive, spiteful, systematic mockery and wilful denigration of Christian belief” at the High Court in London….

…In January, District Judge Caroline Tubbs refused to issue a summons to start proceedings against the Director-General of the BBC Mark Thompson, who allowed the controversial show to be screened on BBC2.

Stephen Green, national director of the evangelical group Christian voice was seeking to overturn the decision today. He also wanted to issue a similar summons against the show’s producer, Jonathan Thoday, who staged it at the Cambridge Theatre in London’s West End and then in a nationwide tour.

Today Michael Gledhill QC, appearing for Mr Green, argued Judge Tubbs had erred in law in refusing to issue the summonses as the show had clearly “crossed the blasphemy threshold”.

He argued: “This is not just about protecting the rights of a section of the Christian population. “It is about protecting the constitution of the nation which is built on the Christian faith.” (Source:The Sun)

The words rank hypocrisy come to mind but far be it for a simpleton Muslim like to me to have the right to pronounce judgment on such matters.

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