Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.02.2015, Blaðsíða 5

Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15. febrúar 2015 • 5
ONLINE MAGAZINE: WWW. HEIMSKRINGLOG.COM
OP-ED What is the difference?
Although there were points of agreement between Stefan and me in his recent editorial, there are also some differences in opinion.
The editorial speaks about blasphemy laws, and
recommends their abolition. I agree. Blasphemy laws
are outdated. They remind me of the middle ages or
the Spanish Inquisition. I was very surprised to learn
that Iceland, widely viewed on the world stage as a
free-thinking nation, still has a blasphemy law on the
books. In my opinion, the focus of law should change.
I wonder where, as human beings, we should draw
the line. I am a professional librarian, and worked
in that field for many years. Contrary to popular
depictions of homely spinster librarians in sensible
shoes and support hose, managing libraries like a
pseudo police force, the librarians of my experience
are actually some of the most open-minded people
there are. The intensive education for professional
librarianship covers censorship, the right of people to
access information, and other related issues. Librarians
are taught that all library patrons should be treated with
respect, no matter what their information needs, social
status, racial or sexual identities.
So I get it. I get freedom of speech; I get freedom
of religion; I get freedom of expression; I really do.
However, it seems to me that somewhere society has
the task of ensuring that minority groups especially
should be protected from hatred. I believe that it is
wrong when people are judged as part of a group
instead of as the individuals they are. It is the job
of society to make rules that protect people. They
are called laws. Unless we purport to want to live in
anarchy, and I think that few people honestly desire
that, then laws are required. Laws should reflect the
beliefs and rights of citizens and offer protection to
the innocent. Unfortunately, they do not always do
that.
Don’t get me wrong. Nobody should be killed
because of what they draw, what they write, or what
they think. Debate continues throughout the world
as to whether or not people should be killed for their
actions. Some countries have capital punishment and
others do not, even for the most horrendous of crimes.
The victims at Charlie Hebdo should not be dead.
I have to wonder, though. Several years ago, a
newspaper in Nanaimo, where I then lived, published
a hate rant by a reader as a letter to the editor. It was
disgusting. It expressed hate against a particular group
of people. Among other things, the writer purported
to know absolutely that aboriginal people had never
accomplished anything in their whole history. In the
writer’s opinion, native people are a lower class of
being. There were several protests outside the paper’s
offices by people hurt and angry that the letter was
published. It did no good and the paper did not change
its ways. Instead, the editor published another hateful
letter and continues on with cartoons and other wise-
crack inferences about aboriginal people.
Very recently, the media has been afire over a
Facebook post from northern BC, which said the “only
good indian is a dead indian. Let's have open season
on em!!!” Following many complaints and calls to
the local detachment, the RCMP is now conducting
an investigation. The writer’s ugly recommendation
was in response to what he saw as the interference in
economic matters and development in northern BC.
What is the difference between that and Hitler’s
campaign of hatred through extensive media
propaganda prior to the Holocaust? No ethnic group
should be vilified or exposed to hatred. That kind
of hatred serves as a rallying point to those who are
prejudiced and hateful in the first place. In fact, in
Nanaimo there was support expressed for the hateful
letter to the editor from people who said they agreed
with it. They agreed that aboriginal people were lesser
beings. The letter to the editor had become a rallying
point for racial hatred.
Was Charlie Hebdo hurting anybody with its
images of the Prophet Mohammed? Yes. I wonder how
Christian people feel seeing images of Jesus defiled.
And yes, I know that cartoonists don’t see anything
as being out-of-bounds. Or, how would Jewish people
feel if they again had to view horrible images of their
people – possibly depicted as swarming rats as they
were shown in the infamous Nazi propaganda films
during the rise of Hitler.
Maybe cartoons like those published by Charlie
have seen their day. Maybe they belong to a time when
empires viewed people as lesser beings. Maybe they
belong in an archives. They hurt people, even those
people who would never kill. They hurt people who
would never behave in an extremist way. They are
mean – let’s face it. Meanness and hatred under the
guise of humour make them no less palatable.
The staff at Charlie who were gunned down
earlier this year were viciously murdered. Sensitivities
are running high. There are extremists in almost
every belief community in the world. Tragically, the
murdered staff of Charlie fell victim to extremists in
one of those groups.
Judy Richardson
Arborg, MB A response to the editorial by Stefan Jonasson in the February 1st issue
PHOTO: DAVID GISLASON
Judy Richardson
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