Please note: if you are visiting this page following a link on the Fox News blog I would invite you to read this comment. Added 10 May 2008)
I'm told by The Stirrer that family clothing firm Matalan is in hot water with the local Muslim community in parts of Birmingham:
Posters of women in bathing suits have been taken down in the last 24 hours after being defaced in Birmingham’s predominantly Muslim suburb of Sparkbrook.
Now a city councillor wants to establish a committee with powers to censor advertising hoardings.
The Birmingham Mail reported last night that the billboard on the corner of Golden Hillock Road and Sydenham Road had been vandalised after outraging members of the community (http://tinyurl.com/4se6df)
Independent councillor Talib Hussain (once a Liberal Democrat cabinet member) who spoke out against the pictures is claiming victory after they were hastily removed.
He told The Stirrer today: “The posters have been replaced now, but I’m disgusted because they shouldn't’t have been there in the first place.
“There was a similar issue last year when there was an advert with a woman showing her half naked body, and a lot of residents complained about this one to Matalan and the city council.
“It’s disgraceful that it was there, because they know this is a sensitive ward, where the majority are of the Muslim faith. It’s like they are provoking and spitting on the faith.”
I'm left asking two questions:
Should we accept the argument that the advertising industry should have local controls placed on it over and above those already enshrined in law and nation-wide industry practice?
Secondly, if these images are so offensive to people of one faith, why are they not to people of another? Why aren't Methodists, for example, calling for tighter control of images that many find offensive - women and Christians for example?
Are my readers here, most of whom are active Methodists, offended that I have published these images? You would have been 50 years ago, what has happened to us as a "faith community" over the last half century that we now accept the previously unacceptable?
8 comments:
Well, 50 years ago I'd have been eight years old and I wouldn't have been offended. But now, as a grandma (even one who lived through the "summer of love" as my daughter keeps reminding me), I'll admit that I find these pictures somewhat offensive. Compared to a great deal of what we see nowadays, they certainly aren't the worst out there. However, billboards are hard to avoid and ignore. What wouldn't bother me in a magazine seems rather confrontational in this medium. Also, these models appear to be the age of my granddaughters and they look nearly anorexics to me which is another concern. It is quite possible that the advertiser might have responded to boycott and that would have been a better way to address the issue. Different communities have different standards.
The difference between Islam and Christianity (no matter the flavor) is the concept of FREE WILL. God has given all of us the choice to follow Him or not, to believe in Him or not. This concept has percolated over the centuries in the West to the point that we now have freedom of speech and religion.
These are sacred rights.
If God gives me free will to say, think, and do what I like (such as post this advertisement on a billboard), then what gives Man the right to take that away?
I am not offended by these photos, just as I am not offended by someone else being a Baptist, a Methodist, a Catholic, even a Zorastrian.
Man is only justified in taking away Free Will from another Man when there is no other option - murder, crime, or in macro instances, war.
Islam and its adherents take the opposite tack. Free will is evil, and Man is justified in removing its practice in all circumstances.
This has the counterintuitive effect of creating chaotic societies. Whenever Man presumes to take upon himself the duties of God (judgement over choices made under Free Will) he fails, because he lacks the omniscience of God.
Islam expects Men in authority to have the wisdom of God. This is evil.
This poster is rare these days in that the model has not been asked to put a knowing look on her face. She just looks happy at the beach in her beachwear. I have vague memories of having seen a (drawn) Butlins poster from the 1950s featuring a man and a woman by the pool in modern swimwear, both with friendly faces.
Here is a link - to a Web site for which I am not responsible, etc. - which shows a 1950s Butlin's poster as described:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/castlekay/1787030711/in/set-72157601810874047/
As a result of a mention by a presenter for the Fox News Channel in America and a subsequent post on a discussion board I have had over 1000 visits from North America.
I would like to distance myself from the tone of the Fox News coverage. In the UK we live in a diverse community where individuals and communities worship and practice their faith in different ways. This toleration was developed over centuries when Britain rule countries such as India - we learnt to respect other people's faith.
For example the vast majority of the chicken meat served in the UK is Halal compliant (this includes that served by US owned companies such as macDonalds and KFC. This has no impact on me and I have no objection to eating Halal meat. I do not wish to divide our commuities into "them" and "us".
Meanwhile, as a Christian I simply ask that others respect my faith, that we do have a contribution to make to the public debate and civic life and we are able to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord.
I would ask all visitors to simply consider the claims of Jesua on their lives and seek to follow him at all times.
Please speak to your local Minister or Pastor and read the gospel of John as a starting point on the your journey into faith.
Some of us in the States call it "Faux News," David.
Good comment and blog above ("When Fox News Linked...").
"In the UK we live in a diverse community where individuals and communities worship and practice their faith in different ways." = Muslims screw our asses and we beg for more!
Let's all practice our faith:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZNx0xHe0p0
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