[Religions] when sh!ts happens ..
- Thread starter Ekios
- Start date
The religions of the world 
I had a t-shirt with very similar writing to those. Somebody gave it to me over 20 years ago as a gift. :D
bngenoh
The Living Force
Okay, but this:
Is merely feeding the stereotype of Islam and Muslims. While I get that it's a joke, jokes are a great source of reinforcing propaganda of all sorts. Propaganda can be used to free or enslave, in this case it is being used to perpetuate the whole artificially constructed western-Israeli stereotypical view of the terrorist as generally Muslims, osit.
Is merely feeding the stereotype of Islam and Muslims. While I get that it's a joke, jokes are a great source of reinforcing propaganda of all sorts. Propaganda can be used to free or enslave, in this case it is being used to perpetuate the whole artificially constructed western-Israeli stereotypical view of the terrorist as generally Muslims, osit.
shijing
The Living Force
bngenoh said:
I had the same thought -- this kind of humor works on the principle of evoking stereotypes. Most of them are innocuous enough, but the one about Islam isn't for the reasons stated above. Interestingly, this joke has been around for a long time -- I remember seeing it on a T-shirt years ago, but the line about Islam was "Sh!t happens if it is the will of Allah" -- so the one above seems to be a more recent addition.
Ekios
Jedi Master
... 
... 
... I didn't even realized that ...
well you know what ...
In fact ... NO ...
Yep guys, I say "no"
I take back what I just said about realizing something. Since there is "nothing" to realize.
This is about a joke, this is about kidding, please keep Israel and the others nuts jobs outside.
Just to mention : i'm going again in the middle east very soon and with your reactions i'm already tired just to think about how many time I will have to face offended people who just forgot to relax & breath & smile.
PS : that shirt was a request for someone working right now in Jerusalem, helping people in Gaza to recover from the mess they are swimming inside. At least there, they still know how to laugh from themselves, they still know how to laugh about when sh!t happens.
Guardian
The Cosmic Force
bngenoh said:
I agree! Notice that it is the only religion on the list that's represented as being a threat to others. That's called "programing" in my book.
I would go with something like "Islam: If Sh!t happens, Mohammad predicted it" or "Allah willed it" as someone else suggested. I have NO problem with insulting organized religions...they all more than deserve it IMO.
What I do have a problem with is the masses being programmed to see Islam as a threat so yet more brown people can be slaughtered in the name of profit.
A lot of damage can be done with a "joke"
shijing
The Living Force
Ekios said:
Ekios, I think you're having an emotional reaction to this because your pride just got wounded -- which happens to all of us when something is pointed out that we hadn't thought about and we feel embarrassed. It might be good to let yourself cool down for awhile and take a look again at the feedback above. Nobody is suggesting that you were intentionally insensitive, just that you didn't consider the message that the line above about Islam really conveys.
Ekios said:
If you can try to look at it objectively, you might find that the above is justification. It's difficult for me to imagine that a Palestinian muslim would actually find that funny. Think about it -- if you were part of a population that was being regularly targeted with this kind of stereotype, would you be able to laugh about it? You might do it outwardly to "keep the peace", but inside I doubt you would find it very amusing.
Ekios
Jedi Master
- Having an emotional reaction : True indeed.Shijing said:
- Based on a wounded pride : I won't say "no you are wrong here" since it is possible, but the angle where you come is the wrong one. What trigered me is that everytime somone as to say something about one specific religion. It shouldn't be that way. I didn't realized that "detail" since in my "reality" there is nothing to realize AT ALL.
That way of reaction about placing a religion above others is something that hurts and kills thousands of people, and my emotions if we can personify them, are truly sick/pissed off/and strongly "sad" about that fact. It makes me "so" sad at the end.
- About a Justification: Mmmmmh ... yes, it looks like a justification indeed. Now the way I thinked it was about an [/quote], in French we say "enfoncer le clou" // to drive the point home.Ekios said:
- About the Palestinian way of looking at it : You will have to believe me on that one, but, without a real sens of humor, they wouldn't be any Palestinian to help anymore. And I am DAMN aware of the conditions there, that, you can be sure of. I know the pain there. Even if sometimes it goes over what one can imagine.
Now to play it fair, tomorrow first thing in the morning (or, when I wake up, hahum :D) I'll ask my friend who's there now to share the question around her. If you are right, I'll post it back here with 100% of honesty.
PS : If I didn't post anything after 13h time of the middle east, warn me with an answer here, just in case I forgot, had a long day and a long one to come.
Ekios
Jedi Master
Damn I missed that indeed ! My badGuardian said:Ekios said:
Well since you totally avoided my point, I'll be more specific.
Why, on a list of 15 religions, is Islam the ONLY one being portrayed as a threat to others?
Simple answer : I have no clue about that since I didn't write the text.
To be really frank/precise with you, when I read it first I laughed out loud about the "rama rama ding ding" and the "knock knock" things since it is a "visual humor" which is the one that make me laugh immediatly, and I found that the catholics went out with it really too easy. It was too gentle :)
shijing
The Living Force
SeekinTruth said:
It's probably the case that SeekinTruth had the original version that I mentioned above (but that's beside the point).
I think you are still in "reaction" mode, and it might be a good exercise for you to take a break today and think about the above (taking a break isn't a concession -- sometimes it's just the wisest thing to do when you know you're reacting emotionally). I understand what you're saying about the ridiculousness of defining a religion (and by extension its adherents) with a single line -- but the point here is about how people in general perceive this, and how this particular stereotype can reinforce the prejudice against muslims that's been purposefully crafted to demonize them, particularly since 9/11.
You can ask your friends about it if you choose, but there is a question of whether they will tell you how they really feel -- as I said, sometimes someone will laugh at something to "keep the peace", not because it reflects the way they really feel.
Guardian
The Cosmic Force
Ekios said:
No, it's not. The famous t-shirt (which does actually have a fan following) states:
"Islam: If sh!t happens, it is the will of Allah"
_http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/product751.html
"Here's a closer look at the very 'down-to-earth' descriptions of the various religions. This shirt gives the wearer rock-solid international credibility, and it even has a cult following in County Durham, England!"
So to recap, you're being asked to help plagiarize a famous t-shirt, and change it slightly to reflect a distinct prejudice against Islam by presenting it as a threat to others?
