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Three Little Pigs 'too offensive'
by BBC
Thanks to Linda Ward Selbie for the link.
Reposted from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7204635.stm
A story based on the Three Little Pigs has been turned down from a government agency's annual awards because the subject matter could offend Muslims.
The digital book, re-telling the classic fairy tale, was rejected by judges who warned that "the use of pigs raises cultural issues".
Becta, the government's educational technology agency, is a leading partner in the annual schools award.
The judges also attacked Three Little Cowboy Builders for offending builders.
The book's creative director, Anne Curtis, said that the idea that including pigs in a story could be interpreted as racism was "like a slap in the face".
'Cultural issues'
The CD-Rom digital version of the traditional story of the three little pigs, called Three Little Cowboy Builders, is aimed at primary school children.
But judges at this year's Bett Award said that they had "concerns about the Asian community and the use of pigs raises cultural issues".
The Three Little Cowboy Builders has already been a prize winner at the recent Education Resource Award - but its Newcastle-based publishers, Shoo-fly were turned down by the Bett Award panel, run the government's technology agency.
The feedback from the judges explaining why they had rejected the CD-Rom highlighted that they "could not recommend this product to the Muslim community".
They also warned that the story might "alienate parts of the workforce (building trade)".
The judges criticised the stereotyping in the story of the unfortunate pigs: "Is it true that all builders are cowboys, builders get their work blown down, and builders are like pigs?"
Animal Farm?
Ms Curtis said that rather than preventing the spread of racism, such an attitude was likely to inflame ill-feeling. As another example, she says would that mean that secondary schools could not teach Animal Farm because it features pigs?
Her company is committed to an ethical approach to business and its products promote a message of mutual respect, she says - and banning such traditional stories will "close minds rather than open them".
Becta, the government funded agency responsible for technology in schools and colleges, says that it is standing by the judges' verdict.
"Becta with its partners is responsible for the judging criteria against which the 70 independent judges, mostly practising teachers, comment. All the partners stick by the judging criteria," said a Becta spokesman.
The reason that this product was not shortlisted was because "it failed to reach the required standard across a number of criteria", said the spokesman.
Becta runs the awards with the Besa trade association and show organisers, Emap Education.
Merlin John, author of an educational technology website which highlighted the story, warns that such rulings can undermine the credibility of the awards.
"When benchmarks are undermined by pedestrian and pedantic tick lists, and by inflexible, unhelpful processes, it can tarnish the achievements of even the most worthy winners.
"It's time for a rethink, and for Becta to listen to the criticisms that have been ignored for a number of years," said Mr John.
Reposted from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7204635.stm
A story based on the Three Little Pigs has been turned down from a government agency's annual awards because the subject matter could offend Muslims.The digital book, re-telling the classic fairy tale, was rejected by judges who warned that "the use of pigs raises cultural issues".
Becta, the government's educational technology agency, is a leading partner in the annual schools award.
The judges also attacked Three Little Cowboy Builders for offending builders.
The book's creative director, Anne Curtis, said that the idea that including pigs in a story could be interpreted as racism was "like a slap in the face".
'Cultural issues'
The CD-Rom digital version of the traditional story of the three little pigs, called Three Little Cowboy Builders, is aimed at primary school children.
But judges at this year's Bett Award said that they had "concerns about the Asian community and the use of pigs raises cultural issues".
The Three Little Cowboy Builders has already been a prize winner at the recent Education Resource Award - but its Newcastle-based publishers, Shoo-fly were turned down by the Bett Award panel, run the government's technology agency.
The feedback from the judges explaining why they had rejected the CD-Rom highlighted that they "could not recommend this product to the Muslim community".
They also warned that the story might "alienate parts of the workforce (building trade)".
The judges criticised the stereotyping in the story of the unfortunate pigs: "Is it true that all builders are cowboys, builders get their work blown down, and builders are like pigs?"
Animal Farm?
Ms Curtis said that rather than preventing the spread of racism, such an attitude was likely to inflame ill-feeling. As another example, she says would that mean that secondary schools could not teach Animal Farm because it features pigs?
Her company is committed to an ethical approach to business and its products promote a message of mutual respect, she says - and banning such traditional stories will "close minds rather than open them".
Becta, the government funded agency responsible for technology in schools and colleges, says that it is standing by the judges' verdict.
"Becta with its partners is responsible for the judging criteria against which the 70 independent judges, mostly practising teachers, comment. All the partners stick by the judging criteria," said a Becta spokesman.
The reason that this product was not shortlisted was because "it failed to reach the required standard across a number of criteria", said the spokesman.
Becta runs the awards with the Besa trade association and show organisers, Emap Education.
Merlin John, author of an educational technology website which highlighted the story, warns that such rulings can undermine the credibility of the awards.
"When benchmarks are undermined by pedestrian and pedantic tick lists, and by inflexible, unhelpful processes, it can tarnish the achievements of even the most worthy winners.
"It's time for a rethink, and for Becta to listen to the criticisms that have been ignored for a number of years," said Mr John.
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Posted: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 | PermalinkComments 1 - 50 of 100 |
Reload Comments | Back to Top | Page Numbers2. Comment #115006 by Friend Giskard on January 23, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I can see why they might be offended. It does look like Mohammed. Other Comments by Friend Giskard
3. Comment #115008 by al-rawandi on January 23, 2008 at 12:21 pm
What the hell is the deal with religion and pigs? They are such a tasty animal. Other Comments by al-rawandi
4. Comment #115009 by PrimeNumbers on January 23, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Everyone everywhere just needs to learn to stop being offended. To develop thicker skins. At the moment it's very one sided, but when you get Muslims complaining at being offended at the drop of a hat, that's the directions things go in. Other Comments by PrimeNumbers
5. Comment #115010 by Matt7895 on January 23, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Haha, this is one for Daily Mail and Daily Express readers to splurt out their tea over. Islamification! Sharia, jihad, burqa!Seriously though it is quite worrying, political correctness. People worrying about offending other people... it's quite pathetic really.
Other Comments by Matt7895
6. Comment #115011 by mikecbraun on January 23, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Oinkahu akhbar, al rawandi! Anyone who has never and will never taste the succulent, sublime wonder that is pulled pork deserves no attention from me. Drizzle it with Gates' BBQ sauce...see you guys later, I have some cooking to do. Other Comments by mikecbraun
7. Comment #115013 by Highwayman429 on January 23, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Cowboys? Builders? I think they look delicious.MMMMMMMM, bacon!
Other Comments by Highwayman429
8. Comment #115015 by al-rawandi on January 23, 2008 at 12:27 pm
mikecbraun,Kanzeer is the Arabic word for pig.
al-Khanzeeru Akbar! (The pig is great) Try that one on your Muslim friends.
Ashhadu an la haywan ila al-khanzeer
(I testify there is no animal other than the pig)
I am re-writing Muslim docrtine as we speak!
Other Comments by al-rawandi
9. Comment #115020 by mikecbraun on January 23, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Thanks for the lesson. Not sure if I want my head appearing on television sans body, though! Where is the stress in al-Kanzeeru? Other Comments by mikecbraun
10. Comment #115021 by Arcturus on January 23, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Holy Cow! I mean Pig.This is the most stupid thing I've heard in a long time.
It's not like they are forcing bacon down the throats of muslims. It's a freaking story, I don't see how one can be offended by a story about animals. What about the wolf in the Three Little Pigs story, isn't anybody offended? They ate the wolf, I'm offended!
Political correctness has become a plague ...
Other Comments by Arcturus
11. Comment #115022 by irate_atheist on January 23, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Not even worth commenting on. Too pathetic (if true). Other Comments by irate_atheist
12. Comment #115028 by al-rawandi on January 23, 2008 at 12:42 pm
mikecbraun,What stress? al-Khanzeer?
Ya a beheading will fuck up your day, no doubt.
Other Comments by al-rawandi
13. Comment #115032 by bertie wooster on January 23, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Morons! They should try that on in Spain or Italy, where porcinophiles will beat you over the head with a fine leg of cured Iberico or Parma ham.Seriously, the secular attitude should be, "Listen mate, we don't believe in your imaginary friend. Dietary codes such as halal or kosher are man-made and so we don't give a pig's trotter if you are 'offended'."
If I was a muslim I would be far more offended by fellow believers blowing themselves and their innocent victims up around public markets, mosques and just about everybody else.
One rule for them, one for everybody else. When are we going to see one of these nutcases prosecuted for calling someone 'kuffar'?
Other Comments by bertie wooster
14. Comment #115033 by notsobad on January 23, 2008 at 12:47 pm
The prohibition of pork is the only good thing about Islam.But this is ridiculous.
Other Comments by notsobad
15. Comment #115034 by Goldy on January 23, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Ooooh, can't wait for the Torygraph to be updated - they'll love this! :-) Not in Ananova yet - odd, they're normally really quick with this type of story...I like the way Asian is used - here it means Chinese and Koreans etc, not Indians (and related subcontinentals). Given the central role of pork in Chinese cuisine, offending Asians by talking about pigs makes no sense :-) Especially during the last few days of the year of the pig...
Edit - I do, seriously speaking now, feel a few Muslims would be most offended by this. They don't care about pigs. This is just a form of racist stereotyping which alienates them further. You want to know why they are moving to ghettoes? When some white dude decides, in their interest, to highlight their religion only (note how it said they didn't want to offend Asians - no mention of the Jews) when they are a minority with an already shaky reputation in a pig eating culture...well, think how uncomfortable you'd feel.
Other Comments by Goldy
16. Comment #115039 by Steve Zara on January 23, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Seriously though it is quite worrying, political correctness. People worrying about offending other people... it's quite pathetic really.
Well, I don't know. I think people worrying about offending other people is rather civilized. I don't think it should be dismissed because some people are a bit silly about it.
Other Comments by Steve Zara
17. Comment #115040 by Goldy on January 23, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I think people worrying about offending other people is rather civilized
There are levels, Steve. To me this smacks of ostentatious worrying. And targetting - see my comment above. One can go too far and lose out twice - you don't allay other people's worry and you alienate the others. Look at the comments.
Other Comments by Goldy
18. Comment #115041 by Paula Kirby on January 23, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I am offended, morning after morning, by "Thought for the Day" on Radio 4; presumably the BBC will now ban that too? Other Comments by Paula Kirby
19. Comment #115043 by epeeist on January 23, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Comment #115034 by GoldyThis is just a form of racist stereotyping which alienates them further.
No it isn't, it might alien Muslims, but that is a religion, it has nothing to do with race.
Sorry to be pedantic, but it is a fairly nasty piece of equivocation that gets used an awful lot.
Other Comments by epeeist
20. Comment #115044 by Goldy on January 23, 2008 at 1:08 pm
No it isn't, it might alien Muslims, but that is a religion, it has nothing to do with race
But judges at this year's Bett Award said that they had "concerns about the Asian community and the use of pigs raises cultural issues".
I agree, but it does also depend how you use the words. As it is, mention Muslim in the UK and what is the mental image? White guy or Pakistani/Bangladeshi? Religion is also, in this case, stuck with a race in popular perception.
Edit, and given Asia covers a much larger area than the sub continent, one would assume Chinese etc are also included - yet they'd not be offended at all about the 3 little pigs. But no one is even visualising them in this, are they?
Blanket terms used to pinpoint a community.
Other Comments by Goldy
21. Comment #115046 by Diacanu on January 23, 2008 at 1:12 pm
al-rawandi-What the hell is the deal with religion and pigs?
I like Christopher Hitchens's cheeky suggestion that the ancient creeps who wrote this stuff had a knee-jerk aversion to eating what they'd been fucking.
B-)
Other Comments by Diacanu
22. Comment #115047 by al-rawandi on January 23, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Diacanu,That explains why I won't eat goat... errr I mean, super model.
Other Comments by al-rawandi
23. Comment #115048 by mikecbraun on January 23, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Let me be more clear, sorry. When you say "al-Khanzeeru Akbar," what syllable is stressed in "al-Khanzeeru?" is it on the "Khan-," the "-zeer-," or the "-u?" I would guess the "-zeer-," but I don't know, hence the query. If I'm insulting someone in a foreign language, I at least want to take solace in the fact that I'm pronouncing it right! Other Comments by mikecbraun
24. Comment #115050 by Steve Zara on January 23, 2008 at 1:19 pm
There are levels, Steve. To me this smacks of ostentatious worrying.
I agree. But so-called "political correctness" has been pretty beneficial in some ways. For example, it has made racism seem doltish and ill-mannered.
I have no hesitation in condemning this particular bit of nonsense, but that does not mean we shouldn't worry about causing offense generally, which seemed to be the tone of the post I was replying to.
Other Comments by Steve Zara
25. Comment #115051 by mikecbraun on January 23, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Diacanu, is that maybe where we get the phrase, "I don't shit where I eat," (recently heard in an episode of "The Sopranos") and its variations from? Other Comments by mikecbraun
26. Comment #115052 by epeeist on January 23, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Comment #115044 by Goldy
I agree, but it does also depend how you use the words. As it is, mention Muslim in the UK and what is the mental image? White guy or Pakistani/Bangladeshi? Religion is also, in this case, stuck with a race in popular perception.
Ooh, lets have an agree-fest.
Popular perception might not distinguish between race and religion, which is why it gets used by the power brokers in the likes of the MCB.
It is time that "you are anti-Muslim so you must be racist" was exposed for the canard that it is.
Other Comments by epeeist
27. Comment #115055 by Steven Mading on January 23, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Al-rawandi, here's what the deal is with pigs:Without really good means of meat preservation, pork can be a rather dangerous meat. A lot of what infects pigs can also infect humans. So in a pre-refrigeration culture, eating pork makes you more likely to be sick than eating other meats. Eventually people started to see a pattern there. At a time when many believed sickness to be related to evilness (caused by demons and so on), they came to the conclusion that eating pork is evil. This meme survived very well since its adherents were less likely to die of food poisoning.
A lot of the kosher rules can be explained the same way. Even if the reason for them is bullcrap and the useful kosher rules are packaged inside of a lot of irrelevant 'junk' rules, the extreme cleanliness imposed by the rules does tend to increase survivability. So much like a DNA mutation that contains one useful gene packaged with several bits of "junk" DNA, the junk gets carried along with the useful part.
Other Comments by Steven Mading
28. Comment #115057 by al-rawandi on January 23, 2008 at 1:27 pm
mikecbraun,I see. Well the "a" is a short vowel, the "ee" is a long vowel and the "u" is the nomative case ending, and is a short vowel as well.
the "Kh" is the gutteral sound, like in Hebrew "la-chaim" (la-Khaim).
That should get you pretty offensive. It should elicit some excellent reactions. Be sure you are faster and/or stronger than your intended victims.
Other Comments by al-rawandi
29. Comment #115059 by Steven Mading on January 23, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Pigs are just as forbidden under Jewish kosher rules as they are under Muslim rules.So why don't they care about the Three Little Pigs offending Jews?
Answer: Jews don't have a history of reacting with outrage and violence toward those don't bother following Jewish religious rules. It's the same reason nobody gets worried that McDonalds might be offensive to Hindus who hold cows to be sacred.
Establish a history of irrational violent outrage toward those who do not abide by your religion's strictures and watch people bend over backward to accomodate you instead of telling you to knock it off.
I wish people who gave a damn about human rights would stand up to that crap.
Other Comments by Steven Mading
30. Comment #115060 by al-rawandi on January 23, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Steven Mading,I got the meat part. But there is a special obsession within Islam. I mean they dislike all animals, near as I can tell. With the exception of camels, horses and goats.
What about Jews and shellfish? Jews have the most curious dietary restrictions.
If you took away my bacon, lobster and gentile women I would lose my mind. Islam may be worse, no pork, no women not dressed in trash bags and NO ALCOHOL!
Other Comments by al-rawandi
31. Comment #115061 by Gymnopedie on January 23, 2008 at 1:31 pm
If you think of Islam and can't separate it with the image of a certain socially constructed group, then grow up, don't complain to the rest of us. If you see racism, expose it for what it is: racism!Islam is not a race, end of fucking story.
Other Comments by Gymnopedie
32. Comment #115062 by ADH on January 23, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Hey, even I am going to agree with you all here!!Just think of all the children's stories that will have to go by the board. "Snow White and the seven Dwarves" (though maybe there'd be something in the ban in that case, what with the stereotyoing of "white" as "cool").
Other Comments by ADH
33. Comment #115066 by Szkeptik on January 23, 2008 at 1:36 pm
It might be funny now, but if the time comes (and it will) when noone will be allowed to eat pork in a restaurant if there is a muslim guy inside than it won't be funny anymore.Other Comments by Szkeptik
34. Comment #115067 by al-rawandi on January 23, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Steve Mading,With Muslims it goes one way. When a western woman visits a Muslim country, she is expected to dress accordingly. When a Muslim woman comes to the west, they expect to be able to dress in their traditional bee keeper attire.
When you go to a Muslims country, no-bibles or anything like that. When they come to the west they want special shariah courts for adjudicating divorces and the like.
We have to tolerate them, and they get shariah in their ghettos.
Other Comments by al-rawandi
35. Comment #115068 by al-rawandi on January 23, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Gymnopedie,But it is strongly correlated with non-Whites. So the racism gets mixed in with the anti-religion stuff. So it really isn't the end of the story.
ADH,
I was raised on that bed time story about the gay guy who had the right to marry whomever he wanted. Can I keep that one?
Other Comments by al-rawandi
36. Comment #115071 by mikecbraun on January 23, 2008 at 1:45 pm
al-rawandi:I think I'll just store that one, as I'm kind of a linguistic collector. My other favorite colorful phrases in various foreign languages also rarely or never get used, but I still store them and think about them sometimes (especially when faced with a disagreeable person or situation) and they make me laugh or feel empowered. We don't have any big problems around here with us vs. them nonsense apart from the odd teenage hooligan defacing property on a rare occasion. Not to say I don't appreciate the lesson, though! By the way, your description of Muslim women keeps reminding me of the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episode where Larry hooks Mike the blind guy up with an Arab woman in a burkha. Quite funny, if you haven't seen it. Larry David having lunch with a woman in a burkha and a few mentally-challenged guys who run a carwash is priceless.
Other Comments by mikecbraun
37. Comment #115072 by really on January 23, 2008 at 1:45 pm
There is only one word for this: insane. Where will it end? I'm glad I don't live in the UK; here in Norway it hasn't gone that far yet (even though our politicians, and especially our prime minister and foreign minister, behaved with contemptible cowardice in the Muhammed caricature case).Other Comments by really
38. Comment #115074 by Diacanu on January 23, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Chew on this, muzzies!! RAWK!!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CYwNWHZuT0
Other Comments by Diacanu
39. Comment #115076 by PJG on January 23, 2008 at 1:57 pm
al-rawandiWhat about Jews and shellfish?
I think it is the same answer as the pork one regarding pre-refrigeration.... shellfish can be a bit dodgy.
Other Comments by PJG
40. Comment #115077 by Inferno on January 23, 2008 at 1:58 pm
"Is it true that all builders are cowboys, builders get their work blown down, and builders are like pigs?"
This is a joke right? ...checks calendar....hmmm, not April 1... But it is a joke, yes?
Other Comments by Inferno
41. Comment #115078 by Diacanu on January 23, 2008 at 2:01 pm
PJG-I think it is the same answer as the pork one regarding pre-refrigeration.... shellfish can be a bit dodgy.
Yeah, but all that doesn't really wash, because there's a lot of poisonous plants and shit, why isn't every single dodgy food made "unclean", in the bible?
Other Comments by Diacanu
42. Comment #115082 by al-rawandi on January 23, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Diacanu,It serves as the best examply of being unable to adapt. They haven't figured out that pork 1400 years was not well prepared, while today it is.
Neither religion provides a reason why pork is prohibited. It just is.
Other Comments by al-rawandi
43. Comment #115087 by Dinah on January 23, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Not only do we have to put up with Muslims being offended about trivia, we also have to put up with non-Muslims being offended about trivia on behalf of Muslims. Where will it all end? (Sigh)Other Comments by Dinah
44. Comment #115088 by Haymoon on January 23, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I guess someone called Ken Ham must have a problem then ? Other Comments by Haymoon
45. Comment #115095 by Goldy on January 23, 2008 at 2:37 pm
you are anti-Muslim so you must be racist
Epeeist, I agree with you there. I am merely pointing out that I think this article seems to suggest a racist content wrapped up in political correctness. It's not the religion, it's people who think it's OK to say "It's all the Muslims fault becasue we can't offend them." They never mentioned the Jews, after all. As it is, it offends the majority who don't have any restrictions on porcine cuisine (so why a story or piggy bank should cause offence is beyond me. They'll have to ban dogs too)
Gymnopedie, it isn't. But perceptions are. As Al-rawandi said, not quite end of story. If it was, Sikhs would not have been attacked after 11/9, would they? I mean, brown boy in turban, must be a Muslim, eh?
Dodgy shellfish - oooooh! I'd ban them. And one of our students is a bit gippy after eating dodgy pork. Mind you, after a dose of Delhi belly from a dodgy chicken, I'd have banned them too!
Edit
Not only do we have to put up with Muslims being offended about trivia, we also have to put up with non-Muslims being offended about trivia on behalf of Muslims. Where will it all end? (Sigh)
Who said the Muslims were offended by the Three Little Pigs? When people just live and let live, then it'll all end. And maybe if non-Muslims were not offended at Muslims over something I'll wager they don't really give a shit about, maybe the end will come sooner.
Other Comments by Goldy
46. Comment #115103 by Bigorra on January 23, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Here we have three groups that are offended, Muslims, Asians (a rather broadly defined demographic) and builders. Under what design is a story about pigs offensive to Muslims? If any Muslims are offended, I wouldn't exactly see why. Can a person not say "pig" around Muslims? The prohibition is only on eating pigs. I can accept the fact that if I ever visit Riyadh, there will be no bacon with breakfast which doesn't offend me one little bit. That is just the way they do things and yet another reason I'm happy that I was born and raised in the West. Trying to find ways to be offended, here's all I came up with:1) The wolf in the story eats two pigs, which would surely brand him as an infidel, then dies by the avenging hand of the third pig who is not, obviously, a Muslim, but acts as the avenging hand of God in consuming the wolf. Perhaps the implication that the third pig acted on behalf of God in striking down the wolf for the murder of his brothers is the problem which offends Muslims.
2) Builders may be offended at the implication that shoddy building practices led to the demise of the two pigs and the wolf. It is unfair to blame the builders because all the housing designs were up to code and the materials met official standards. The extraordinary lung power of the wolf was beyond the tolerance at which these houses could expect to stand.
3) Asians may be offended by the fact that they were included as another group referred to in this story to pad out the logic. I can get pork dishes at local Thai and Chinese restaurants, so I'd like Britain's educational technology group to be more specific so that the Asians that aren't offended by the story won't be offended by being included, which is the main offense I find here.
Sorry if I've offended anybody.
Other Comments by Bigorra
47. Comment #115107 by Synchronium on January 23, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I think it's offensive to builders to suggest that a builder might be offended by it.Builders don't sit around reading kids books.
Other Comments by Synchronium
48. Comment #115109 by 82abhilash on January 23, 2008 at 3:15 pm
This is a lot of Bullshit. I was raised in the UAE for the first ten years of my life and I have seen cartoons there on Government owned TV, dubbed in Arabic that featured pigs case main characters!! In the UAE!!Perhaps the problem is that there is too much freedom in the West and the muslims are not used to it and do not want to be used to it. I mean what can they do in the UAE, petition for religious freedom in the courts? Take to the streets? They can do nothing there. It is not a democracy. Perhaps that is where they need to be. They will be happy submissive to a theocracy. Where someone else makes all the decisions for them. No need to think for yourself about the most important questions in your life.
Other Comments by 82abhilash
49. Comment #115110 by Goldy on January 23, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Bugger. Should have kept my mouth shut. No - should not have typed, I can say what I like, none of you would hear a thing :-)I'm off to have a bacon butty and a beer. All this talk of eating pigs made me hungry...
Edit - still have memories of eating a leg of pork in Abu Dhabi, a suckling pig in Syria and one of the best legs of pork in Indonesia.....
Other Comments by Goldy
50. Comment #115119 by Eric Blair on January 23, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Goldy's and Steve Zara's comments remind us to be careful and precise in stating our opinions, especially on hot button topics.Absolutely, this situation is ludicrous, but it does not mean schools should stop being concerned about offending minorities. Nor should it reflect badly on Muslims -- there's no indication they asked to be "protected" from this story.
And, yes, broad-brush attacks on Muslims do help encourage racists to follow suit.
But none of this should hinder the civil expression of reasoned and precise positions.
EB
Other Comments by Eric Blair
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1. Comment #115005 by PJG on January 23, 2008 at 12:18 pm
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