A few posts ago, I wrote a little piece about Mohammad The Bear, whose naming apparently insulted Islam, sent a teacher to prison, sparked riots and calls for execution, and created an international incident.
Contrast that (over) reaction with the decision of the British High Court this week that a charge of Blasphemy against a BBC executive for his decision to screen "Jerry Springer - The Opera" could not proceed.
The play, based on Springer's show, is a musical that depicts Jesus being referred to as “a little bit gay” and features Eve attempting to fondle His genitals.
Distasteful? Very. Insulting to Christians? Probably. But worth sending someone to jail over?
The charge of Blasphemy had been brought by a fundamentalist Christian group after the BBC aired the play in 2005.
In its decision, the court ruled that "the play had been performed regularly in major theatres in London for a period of nearly two years without any sign of it undermining society or occasioning civil strife or unrest".
Compare... the Sudanese way... our our way?
I don't know. The contrast is pretty stark and a small part of me is repulsed by this sort of disrespect, but I'm reasonably certain which system of justice I'd prefer to live with.
Perhaps the complainants should have attacked the show as being in gross violation of standards of good taste. I'm sure there's probably an EU rule about that.
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