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.

No, the UK should never be held to ransom over a cartoon that some people find offensive.
Show a cartoon of Jesus and I can guarantee there will be no death threats.

A cartoon of jesus isn't seen as offensive to Christians that is why.

The whole point of showing the image is make it clear that in western democracies, we have to be able to tolerate views we don't agree with, that may offend us, because it's part of living in a pluralistic society.
The Charlie Hebdo image would have been used because it was topical. Contrast the Muslim reaction with those of other religions.

Actually, it is. I am of the Christian faith and I find the belittling of Christianity extremely offensive and upsetting.

I am not however a psychopath who thinks making death threats and beheading people is a way to handle this. I abhor that behaviour, it is distasteful and uncivilised and has no place in Britain.

People say things that offend me all the time. I cope and move on. I certainly don't kill anyone or threaten to do so.

I'm quite sure there are myriad tranches of the population who feel offended by certain things, but to whom your deference for their preferences don't extend.

Your attitude absolutely encourages violence.

Isn’t it? Are you a devout Christian?

Devout Muslims need to show the same tolerance that all other religions in the UK do.
We’ve had enough unrest because of religion and we became a fairly tolerant society because of it.
Let’s not get back to times of unrest in the name of a an invisible entity. Tolerance on all sides will go and you’ll see more and more unrest, riots and violence.

At the moment Muslim communities are treated with kid gloves. If they're not all hell breaks loose.

I've said it before and I will say it again look at the difference in the way the Sarah Everard protestors were treated compared to these people.

It is intolerable that Muslim communities are effectively operating under a different set of rules and it is causing dangerous pushback, people are moving to the right for a reason. Now community leaders are so emboldened they are trying to change the law of the land. Of course sharia courts have already been mooted in the past as a parallel justice system.

This issue can be solved.

Firstly curtail chain migration so that we are not ending up with very large, very insular Muslim communities. It's not a healthy form of migration.

Properly prosecute imans for threats and hate speech.

Remove Muslim faith schools that keep children isolated from Western culture.

Positively promote British culture and democracy instead of the current narrative that white is a pejorative.

Lastly make images of Allah absolutely ubiquitous. Put them everywhere. Encourage and embolden those that want to mock or criticise Islam. Christians are regularly mocked, sky fairy is a term commonly used on Mumsnet. The book of Mormon is, I'm sure deeply offensive to some. No one would think twice before taking the mickey out of a Buddhist and frankly look at the way Jews are treated. Yet we must all kowtow to the Muslims and now allow them to curtail free speech?

No. We need to push in the opposite direction. We need to push towards a liberal future.

But I also respect others rights to believe what they wish.

But people do have the right to believe what they wish (in this country). What they don’t have is the right to never feel offended and to never have aspects of their beliefs questioned.

As for your seasonal example, would religious people really want to be regarded as children, impossible to reason with?

Couldn't agree more.

The majority don't agree with the actions of the minority and they need to be protected and encouraged.

Look at the police officers and the brothers at Manchester airport. The media were quick to judge the police and find them lacking, based purely on a one sided video.

When the actual events were uncovered the story was very different. Yet why have they not faced prosecution?

The likes of Farage are able to encourage and grow because we really do seem to be moving towards a one rule for most, one rule for these people. The right wing thugs who smashed up towns were dealt with within days. Yet those brothers are still yet to be dealt with, not gas their so called lawyer for inciting hatred, and the police officers are still suspended.

We cannot begin to deal with divisions until we stamp out that that encourages the right wing to grow.

alongside a black piece of paper would imo have far more effect than showing the insulting image

What would that effect be? Teaching kids that one particular religion has to be treated differently than all the others?

Because you respect the parents right to enforce the child's beliefs in Santa even when you know he's not real?

You could definitely tell kids Santa doesn't exist, just like most parents here don't tell their kids that God exists. Even a 6 year old can be told that Santa doesn't exist

I am personally and I have zero problems about any cartoons showing pictures of Jesus unless the cartoon itself is offensive. It's not a "one -size fits all" approach

No, because we're used to using the cultural constructs of Santa, the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny (not everywhere) to make children's lives a bit more magical and fun, we tend to look at adults who need those three as being in need of supported living.

Would you go to India and push and shout at the cow walking down the middle of the street? I'd like to think no, as for a lot of India the cow is considered sacred. Just like not showing an image that offends, it is just simple respect.

THIS 👏

Incidentally most of us knew about Santa & the tooth fairy pretty quickly but we played along with our parents because it's part of the fun, (and the goodies obviously.)

I see your point. The fact that you're "used to using" something doesn't make it right to be fair. You could argue that people of certain religions are also "used to " doing things a certain way and that people should respect that. I appreciate kids and adults are not the same, my point is that it's possible to respect and adhere to people's individual needs, because we don't all need, want or desire the same things. I think that's part of what having a diverse mindset is supposed to support us with

Is it not? Explain please. Are you Christian?

Just as we teach kids that people have different needs and accomodations needed might be different for different people.

Edited to add; yes, Christian and practicing. Growing up, I watched lots of movies and cartoons depicting the life of Christ. It's not a problem for us generally as a religion. What is a problem is disrespectful movies/films etc. though agree we shouldn't threaten people for doing that

Do you think it should be offensive because it's offensive to a Muslim? Do you think all religions are exactly the same and need or want the same things? Do you want all the exact same things as another person on the street just because both of you might happen to be atheist/non-religious?

People are different and want different things. Religious people are just people, they might also want different things

Oh behave. A child is a REAL thing. You can touch it see it and feel it.
God/Religion is belief-that may or may not be real.
The UK should not be changing anything and Islam should not be given anymore rights than any other religion.

I'd liken a lot of religious beliefs and practices to OCD phobic behaviour. Looked at logically, most elements of religion make no sense. The same as eg the person that has to wash their hands three times before leaving the house.

I don't get it, but I respect that is what they require to function.

Religious beliefs may be unreal to you, and that's fair. I assure you, for many many many believers, it's just as real and as important to them as a child is to you. The ask is for people to realise we're not all the same and allow for those differences. The world would be a much kinder place if we could all do that.