Apologies for wanting peace!!!!

[Muslimwoman]

I was totally gobsmacked last night. I was watching a re-run of last years US tv program So You Think You Can Dance. I love to watch expressive dance, it can tell a story without using words.

At the start of the program the main judge (an Englishman) gave an official apology because they had received so many complaints about a dance piece the week before which was anti-war and the music danced to used words such as peace and love. Complaints included comments abot it being unpatriotic and wrong to perform such a piece when the country is still at war.

I wonder what sort of world we now live in when we are forced to apologise for being pro-peace?

I thought the judges apology and explanation was wonderful, saying that it is possible to be patriotic and support the troops that are fighting without actually supporting war itself.

Have we really gone so far down into the murky a-moral depths that we can no longer speak against killing and war for fear of retribution? What happene to America being the land of free speech?

I was deeply saddened.

[wil]

Originally Posted by Muslimwoman

I wonder what sort of world we now live in when we are forced to apologise for being pro-peace?

I thought the judges apology and explanation was wonderful, saying that it is possible to be patriotic and support the troops that are fighting without actually supporting war itself.

Have we really gone so far down into the murky a-moral depths that we can no longer speak against killing and war for fear of retribution? What happene to America being the land of free speech?

I was deeply saddened.

OH yeah, one person was sued because they had a wreath in the shape of a peace sign and neighbors thought it was satanic.

Peace on earth, goodwill toward men. It is on greeting cards, yet we forget.

No we don't want peace, we've got soldiers fighting, peace is not the goal.

We renamed our War Department to Defense Department, thinking it would fool people.

Love your G!d and your neighbor, who the heck would ever support that?

[bananabrain]

sally, this is about networks and their battle for ratings - obviously tv execs are going to panic if they think their nielsens are going through the floor with the flag-waving demographic, perhaps they got a call from a major advertiser or something. and then, perhaps they started worrying about appearing overly warlike. this sounds to me like typical corporate weasel-speak.

b'shalom

bananabrain

[Muslimwoman]

I understand the networks issue BB but I think I was just horrorfied that anyone would pick up the phone to complain about a dance piece because it was about peace. I just don't understand how a mind like that works.

You may be right about corporate sponsors complaining though, maybe an arms manufacturer?

But what message does that send to young people watching the program?

Having said all that - of course I live in a country which airs the Hezbollah v channel!!! Is there any hope?

[bananabrain]

al-manar, right? well, there's still hope if they infringe disney's copyright like hamas did with "farfour the suicide mouse" before they had him killed off by zionists. i understand they've replaced him with a bunny rabbit that eats jews or something equally twisted. personally, i await the moment that there's a popular movement of women giving these people a good kicking for messing up their childrens' heads.

you don't understand how minds like that work? well, you've got a forces background, right? i don't think you or i really have the ability to understand quite how scarily tv network execs think.

b'shalom

bananabrain

[seattlegal]

Originally Posted by Muslimwoman

I understand the networks issue BB but I think I was just horrorfied that anyone would pick up the phone to complain about a dance piece because it was about peace. I just don't understand how a mind like that works.

You may be right about corporate sponsors complaining though, maybe an arms manufacturer?

But what message does that send to young people watching the program?

Having said all that - of course I live in a country which airs the Hezbollah v channel!!! Is there any hope?

People complain about what other people say all the time, or about the way they say it if they can't attack the message itself.

Freedom of speech allows people to blow off steam as needed, rather than making them hold it in until they explode.

[Muslimwoman]

Yes I do have a forces background and it took me a while to accept that while bullets were flying past my head people back home were demonstrating for peace but that was no reflection on me, just the political nonsense that got us into the war. But I would never have accepted my parents phoning to complain about a dance or song wanting peace - hell I wanted it all to stop too.

Oh I didn't know suicide Mickey had been killed - good on the zionists. A Jew eating bunny - forgive me but I laughed. What will these crazies come up with next?

You have a good point about women BB, it was women that initially brought an end to the troubles in Ireland - they got sick of their kids being shot at and demonstrated in the streets. The messgae to the men was basically 'grow up and sort yourselves out' hee, hee.

Unfortunately we are a long way off that in Lebanon and Gaza, where women still go on tv to state they will have more children to produce more fighters (although how much of that is political spin I don't know).

[Muslimwoman]

Originally Posted by seattlegal

Freedom of speech allows people to blow off steam as needed, rather than making them hold it in until they explode.

And I thought it was only Muslims that explode hee, hee

But I thought the principle was it was someones right to demonstrate against war and yet it seems you can only speak out if you are on the side of the majority? Hasn't there been a lot of condemnation of the anti-war films made last year in the US?

[seattlegal]

Originally Posted by Muslimwoman

And I thought it was only Muslims that explode hee, hee

But I thought the principle was it was someones right to demonstrate against war and yet it seems you can only speak out if you are on the side of the majority? Hasn't there been a lot of condemnation of the anti-war films made last year in the US?

Like I said, the attempt to suppress freedom of speech comes from everyone, and no one is immune to it. If the message itself can't be attacked, someone who doesn't like the message will attack the way it was presented, etc. Everyone wants to claim victimhood on attempts to suppress freedom of speech, but no one wants to own up to the fact that they do it themselves. Silly, huh?

[bananabrain]

yeah, sally, it would be funny if it wasn't actually true - but this is precisely how they brainwash these poor kids:

MEMRI: Latest News

i think memri (an israeli-supported organisation which basically translates what anti-israel organisations say in arabic) has posted a lot of the actual videos on youtube as well.

i suppose whilst much of the most trenchant anti-war criticism is still coming out of the united states free speech is alive and well.

b'shalom

bananabrain

[Paladin]

Even Oprah denigrated an audience member who dared to question the intelligence data being sold as fact before we invaded Iraq. I missed the show but the clip was shown in a documentary entitled "Buying The War"
Bill Moyers Journal . Buying the War . Watch the Show | PBS

[Muslimwoman]

Originally Posted by seattlegal

Everyone wants to claim victimhood on attempts to suppress freedom of speech, but no one wants to own up to the fact that they do it themselves. Silly, huh?

Yes very silly. Whereas I live in a country where I have absolute freedom of speech (as long as what I want to say is in line with government policy or al-Azhar religious scholars (often the same thing) - otherwise I can pack my toothbrush and go to jail without passing go or collecting £200).

Originally Posted by bananabrain

yeah, sally, it would be funny if it wasn't actually true - but this is precisely how they brainwash these poor kids

That is actually quite gut wrenching. You know my views on the Palestine/Israel situation but I can never support teaching young children such hatred.

I did find this though (the latter part) which I was pleased about, the bit at the end about Jews not being descended from apes and pigs.

Clip

This is what we need more of.

Originally Posted by Paladin

Even Oprah denigrated an audience member who dared to question the intelligence data being sold as fact before we invaded Iraq. I missed the show but the clip was shown in a documentary entitled "Buying The War"
Bill Moyers Journal . Buying the War . Watch the Show | PBS

Oh and I always liked Oprah. Shall have to watch Rachel Ray instead now.

[flowperson]

Originally Posted by Muslimwoman

I was totally gobsmacked last night. I was watching a re-run of last years US tv program So You Think You Can Dance. I love to watch expressive dance, it can tell a story without using words.

At the start of the program the main judge (an Englishman) gave an official apology because they had received so many complaints about a dance piece the week before which was anti-war and the music danced to used words such as peace and love. Complaints included comments abot it being unpatriotic and wrong to perform such a piece when the country is still at war.

I wonder what sort of world we now live in when we are forced to apologise for being pro-peace?

I thought the judges apology and explanation was wonderful, saying that it is possible to be patriotic and support the troops that are fighting without actually supporting war itself.

Have we really gone so far down into the murky a-moral depths that we can no longer speak against killing and war for fear of retribution? What happene to America being the land of free speech?

I was deeply saddened.

Sally...some of us noticed this trend years ago. Today in the U.S., unless you're certifiable, in the eyes of critics, there is no logical reason not to think well of warfare and indiscriminate killing. There is no free speech here in the traditionally accepted definition. This is why for some time now I've called IT the military-industrial-entertainment complex.

Wonder if the Norwegians are leasing out space in their "Doomsday Seed Depository"? They seem to be a practical and peace loving sort.

flow....

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by flowperson

There is no free speech here in the traditionally accepted definition.

I know you've said this before, flow. I still find it hard to believe and so depressing. To come from the mouth of an American too, rather than someone in another country who may not have the same inside view. How did the US ever become such a sad country? And what terrible things it may foretell for the world.

s.

[Paladin]

It's been going on for years Snoopy, browse through a copy of Noam Chomsky's Hegemony Or Survival: America's Quest For Global Dominance
In addition notice how many corporations now own the media outlets, once there were more than 50, now, only 5 major corporations own the most popular outlets. Or just watch the video I linked to above.