The teacher from Batley is still in hiding

[Nicetrynigel]

Teacher Batley
His life ruined because a bunch of thugs decided they didn't like what he was teaching in his RE lesson.
This and the Labour MP's request for bhalsphey laws against those of the Abrahamic faith have made me concerned.

People should be free to offer an view against another's religion. It's scary that we are being a country where people thing being offended gives them a right to made death threats.

Question, the rioters in the summer, they were offended. Is their violence reasonable and to be expected?

No you wouldn’t be sacked necessarily, perhaps disciplined. The major problem here though is who decides what is offensive. A key value of education is that teachers should be able to discuss religion with their classes freely and objectively. What if the imam says that any objective discussion of Islam is offensive?

But in any case, surely you agree this man doesn’t deserve death threats?

ahh yes, victim blaming.

Why should he have met with an Iman? What does the Iman have to do with the school?

If a teacher had an 'offensive' picture of another religious figure, he wouldn't have been sacked and religious figures wouldn't be involved with the school.

We don't have blasphemy laws in the UK and he didn't commit any crime. Why should Islam be an exception to the law?

Or expect your face punched in…

Lovely. So it’s ok to say, I hate Jesus. But if I say I hate…. I should get my face punched in? Because it offended one group of people?

So if yellow shirts offend me, should I shout at and threaten all people who wear yellow shirts till wearing yellow shirts is banned?

He was teaching a class on "free speech and blasphemy,"
Its interesting that you want to limit the free speech part of it.

And the only "fuckwits" here are the people that want him dead.

It was a lesson on free speech and blasphemy. He didn’t bring them in off the cuff to be insulting, the content would have been approved by the SMT at the school.

Challenging topics are used as discussion points because they are challenging, that is the point. These were high school age children, not primary school age.

You can hold what views you want, but keep them out of a classroom

I couldn't agree more, @Ponoka7, but would have to add that, taken to its logical conclusion, this would have to include the religious views of those who claimed to be offended - unless you're seriously suggesting that only some views should be allowed?

And I've not seen you comment on whether issuing death threats is the right thing to do ...

Jesus christ, have you heard of proof reading?

Insult a religion - people can be offended and they can be angry, fair enough.

How on earth can it possibly be acceptable to make death threats though? To intimidate someone to the point that they have to go into hiding?

It should not be acceptable to just take it as read that mob protests and death threats outside of schools are normal behaviour.

You say it is about being exceptionally offensive but was it really?

I'm glad you mentioned being from Liverpool, there was a film called 'Hillsborough' that referred to the most offensive headline.

We had the drama 'Anne' and there have been numerous books and lectures, Phil Scraton being responsible for one book and for giving a number of lectures about the tragedy and the continuing tragedy of the aftermath.

In those lectures headlines are shown as are photographs of the crush.

They are part of the 'story', take them out of context and they are incredibly offensive.

We don't know the actual resource that was used.

Were they the Charlie Hebdo images? Were they the Danish images? Were they the ones created by a Muslim and added to the Danish images? Was it the pic from the 'pig squealing competition' that an Iman claimed was published?

Some Muslims are offended by any depiction of Mohammed, but the images are not actually banned in the Quran.

Images of Mohammed appear often in Persian works of art.

Some Muslims believe no living thing should be depicted in drawings.

Yet you wonder why people think all scousers are violent thugs 🤔

"We don't have blasphemy laws in the UK "

Not quite yet.

Remember what happened to Salman Rushdie.

Were you in the lesson to know, unequivocally, that the teacher was 'trying to stir up hate'?

Maybe the teacher was showing the cartoon as an illustration of what 'offensive' looks like to some Muslims (because there were plenty of Muslims who weren't in the least bit bothered about that cartoon).

Also, any religion being utterly unable to laugh at itself is one reason - and there are many - that I detest zealots. For that's what not being able to laugh at yourself can lead to. Whenever I see photos of religious leaders beating the lectern and issuing fire and brimstone on the rest of humanity for not subscribing to their view of the world I just think; 'When do you EVER have a day off'?

Yes, and that's why we can't let zealots dictate, of all things, what our education system can and can't teach. With the likes of the Taliban banning education for women and girls, and women now being banned from working in Afghanistan AND getting arrested, raped and beaten for begging for food for themselves and their children, any regime (religious or otherwise) that subjugates females can, truly, get fucked in my view.

And showing recent, highly publicised examples which had been all over the news

Was there any indication he agreed with them?

Hear, hear

This blind swallowing of religious edicts should be challenged to encourage critical thinking in the classroom, surely that's what he was trying to encourage?

Did those making death threats ever get prosecuted...?

😅😅

Not to mention having the temerity to actually speak in public

And if you don’t, you deserve to have your life and that of your family ruined? THAT is offensive.

He didn't show this peice of media because it was his opinion though, he showed it as a broader range of depictions of religious figures while discussing blasphemy laws and freedom of speech.

I do believe sexist and racist depictions and material should be discussed in educational settings (though probably at a higher education level), because explaining these things openly, with room for discussion and debate, is what sheds a light on taboo subjects and promotes understanding of the issues that surround them. You can't just rug sweep issues away, and you shouldn't want to.

We do. At least in NI, I believe and until quite recently England and Wales (2008) and Scotland (2024).