Clever visual satire on a millionaire beggar

15 comments on “Clever visual satire on a millionaire beggar ”

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1. Jenny - How to Get there? 1

   6 July 2019 at 10:54 am

   Good on the satirists,

   If recent history teaches us anything, it is that public expressions of bigotry and hatred should not go unchallenged.

   Israel Folau has used the public platform his sporting profile has given him to launch an unprovoked attack on the gay community; his excuse, 'I am quoting from the Christian Bible.'

   Using a quote from the bible as an excuse to inflame hatred against any group is unacceptable.

   Quotes from the bible have been used by people of ill will to justify everything from slavery to anti-semitism.

   As well as satirists, serious religious leaders and scholars, (of all faiths), need to speak out.

   Please don't just leave it to the Secular community to decry these sorts of attacks.

   Take your cue from Professor Attridge:

   “I think any serious engagement with the Bible has to take it, not in terms of the particularities of an individual verse, but in terms of the whole of the witness”
   Harold Attridge, Sterling Professor of Divinity at the Yale Divinity School.

   ”

   Jews are the children of Satan" and the danger of taking biblical passages out of context

   …..despite the fact that Jesus was himself a member of the Jewish people – there are many examples throughout history of passages in the New Testament being wielded for anti-Semitic purposes.

   …..Though the Catholic Church came out against such teachings in the mid-twentieth century, centuries of damage had already been done. The seeds of animosity were sown long ago for those seeking a biblical justification for their modern white supremacist and anti-Semitic views.

   ……..The wielding of biblical passages for hate-fueled ends is sadly nothing new to the Jewish community. It is also all too familiar to black Americans and to members of the LGBTQ community, as well.

   There are numerous examples of Bible verses which have been used through the course of history to justify the institution of slavery, with all its racial connotations in this country, and that are still being heralded by white supremacists today. First Corinthians 7:21, First Timothy, Second Timothy, Ephesians, Colossians, an entire letter that Paul writes about a fugitive slave… the list goes on and on, with several biblical examples in which the same advice is given to slaves: "Obey your masters."

   “They are there in the Bible and we now recognize that they are not moral guides to what we should do or be," explains Attridge. "But you know, 150 years ago, people were quoting the Bible to support the institution of slavery. That heritage has lasted in terms of some of the racialism we see on the streets today.
   In addition, some of those who condemn homosexuality point to biblical passages like Leviticus and Romans 1:24-27 as proof that the Bible agrees. But in this case, too, Attridge argues that these passages are being taken out of their proper historical context.

   "Paul talks about men having sexual relations with men and women exchanging the natural for the unnatural," says Attridge. "They're probably reacting not in general to homosexual activity, but to specifically the forms it was taking in the Greco-Roman world, reacting to the ways in which people were exploiting people of the same sex, as well as people of other sexes, for various personal reasons. This has to be, I think, understood in the same way as a lot of stuff in the Bible that simply reflects the cultural assumptions of the period, which have long since proven to be problematic – that the world is flat, that lending money at interest is evil, etc.

   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jews-are-the-children-of-satan-john-8-44-danger-of-taking-biblical-passages-out-of-context/
2. Peter Wilson 2

   6 July 2019 at 12:42 pm

   I note that professor Attridge refers to members of the Jewish faith as a people.

   The Jewish faith is no more or less as any proselitysing religion, that is- a religion.

   Suggest that the good professor read Shlomo Sands treatise on the subject.

   If Jews are a people, why not Christians, Hindu, Muslim and all the others?
   • bwaghorn 2.1

     6 July 2019 at 2:02 pm

     Could I turn up at a Jewish temple and become a jew ?
     • Peter Wilson 2.1.1

       6 July 2019 at 5:15 pm

       Yes. If you married a member of the Jewish faith.

       Ivanka Trump is an example. There are many others.
       • joe90 2.1.1.1

         6 July 2019 at 6:19 pm

         Yes. If you married a member of the Jewish faith.

         Nope. If you're sponsored as my mother was, you're good to go.
   • Psycho Milt 2.2

     6 July 2019 at 2:32 pm

     The Jewish faith is no more or less as any proselitysing religion, that is- a religion.

     Well, that's an interesting view. Have you tried it out on any Jews? Because I doubt they'd share it. Jews (and their enemies) are pretty clear that Jewish is an ethnicity, not just a religion.
   • Shadrach 2.3

     7 July 2019 at 5:18 pm

     "I note that professor Attridge refers to members of the Jewish faith as a people. "

     Does he? I can only see a reference to the 'Jewish people'. That can refer to a) people who convert to the faith of Judaism, or b) people who are a specific racial/ethnic people group. To deny that there us a Jewish people outside of a religious context, is simply ignorant. This people share common genetic traits. They have distinct ethnic and racial histories and characteristics.

     Ethnic Jews (for want of a better description may have no religion, follow another religion, or share the faith of their ancestors, Judaism.

     There is no such thing as an ethnic Christian, Muslim or Hindu. Which is one reason why labelling critics of Islam as "racist" is silly.
3. Adrian Thornton 3

   6 July 2019 at 1:52 pm

   I am not sure why people and the media give that idiot so much oxygen , he is fighting a battle that is already over and won, his side lost, only a bit of mopping up left to do…
   • Formerly Ross 3.1

     6 July 2019 at 2:08 pm

     His side lost?

     Yeah nah his is the side of free speech, and the satirist probably missed the irony here by the proverbial mile. Free speech is a minority's friend. Just ask Frank Kameny.

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkXbSx-mqm8
     • woodart 3.1.1

       6 July 2019 at 2:36 pm

       bollocks to that argument. its got nothing to do with free speech. folau can dribble on ,all he .likes now that he is unemployed. when you wear the emblem of your employer, you take on certain responsibilitys, one of those, is not to behave like a dickhead and bring your employer into disrepute. look at many employment contracts. stop the nonsense about trying to tag this into the free speech malarky…as a sideline, I have been interested to see that the local free speech coagulation has been very quiet over the folau saga. for a group that thrives on media oxygen, they are obviously testing the wind and finding that it is a folau wind.maybe brash has memories of his last connection with religion……….
       • Formerly Ross 3.1.1.1

         6 July 2019 at 3:38 pm

         when you wear the emblem of your employer

         Except he wasn't wearing the emblem of his employer – whatever that means.

         When Valerie Morse burnt a flag at a dawn parade several years ago, I'm not aware that she brought her employer into disrepute. Feel free to explain how she achieved that. She did of course offend people who witnessed the flag burning, but then if you're unable to offend, free speech really isn't worth having.
4. Formerly Ross 4

   6 July 2019 at 5:21 pm

   Meanwhile, in the UK the Court of Appeal has upheld a university student's right to free speech. The student apparently referred to homosexuality as a "sin" and a "wicked act". The university subsequently removed him from his course of study. Interestingly the court found that "the degree of interference in Ngole’s right to freedom of expression was disproportionate as was the sanction of removing him from the course". Some judges actually understand the importance of free speech.

   https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2019/07/04/man-wins-appeal-removal-social-work-course-anti-homosexuality-facebook-posts/

   https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/uk-religious-freedom-case-a-godsend-for-folau/news-story/9734d8c60d905f319422156e512d3172
   • In Vino 4.1

     6 July 2019 at 6:16 pm

     For heaven's sake – is it all that complicated?

     Free speech is and should be a basic human right.

     But the moment one signs some kind of confidentiality agreement, one has to bear the consequences of breaking that confidentiality. One still has the right to free speech, but one has to cough up and pay that legal penalty which one signed up to.

     A basic right will never overrule a situation where you have thoughtlessly signed away your eligibility.
   • WeTheBleeple 4.2

     6 July 2019 at 6:38 pm

     I think both the student and Folau should have cited the bible as the source of their opinions putting the onus where it lies.

     "It's evil – it's wicked" – well, why?

     "Because the bible says so…" – OK.

     "Because I say so…" – hate speech. Who the fuck is anyone to be 'right' just because they proscribe to (insert religion here) or because they think something. Maybe it's not hate speech but it's certainly idiot speech that happens to be hateful.

     Bullying and bigotry are not free speech. They're self describing. But free speech is a mask for bullies and bigots.

     The bible's homophobic content might be debated as a concept. NOT preached as gospel.
     • In Vino 4.2.1

       6 July 2019 at 7:16 pm

       Those foolish enough to really believe fundamentally will not accept your final sentence.
       The God-given word overrules everything..
       (provided one overlooks so many other things written in that bible.)

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