French leaders sound alarm over planned Mohammad cartoons

[Scootaloo]

39. Don't use words you don't know the meaning of. "Criticism," for example

It doesn't mean "insult." let's you and I explore this word together, with the help of Wikipedia.

Criticism is the practice of judging the merits and faults of something or someone in an intelligible (or articulate) way.

Already we're seeing the difference here, aren't we? For starters, to criticize something, one must actually be informed about it. There's no way to have an intelligible critique of something that you are ignorant about. The more informed you are, the more weight your criticism carries. Without being informed of a subject, you can't actually discuss the merits or flaws of it, right? Criticism also relies on presenting an argument. That is, you have to actually put words together to make the case for your criticism.

Think of movie critics. Even Jay Sherman of "The Critic" had shit to say before his ubiquitous "it stinks!" panning of the (fake) film. A critic who just said "lol this sucks and the director is a goon what a loser lol" and nothing else... would be out of a job.

To criticize does not necessarily imply "to find fault", but the word is often taken to mean the simple expression of an objection against prejudice, or a disapproval. Often criticism involves active disagreement, but it may only mean "taking sides". It could just be an exploration of the different sides of an issue. Fighting is not necessarily involved.

Criticism is often presented as something unpleasant, but it need not be. It could be friendly criticism, amicably discussed, and some people find great pleasure in criticism ("keeping people sharp", "providing the critical edge&quot . The Pulitzer Prize for Criticism has been presented since 1970 to a newspaper writer who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism'.

In short, it's possible to provide criticism without being a complete fucking cock. At the core, to criticize is the explore the subject and provide an opinion on it. Even tense subjects can be criticized without sending people home feeling mad or insulted. If your intent going in is to create such feelings among those being criticized, you're already failing as a critic; your task is not to belittle or make others feel horrible, but to expose and discuss on the strengths and flaws of their positions, ideas, creations, etc. Indeed if your goal is just to piss on people's heads, that just makes you a bully and a douchebag, not a critic.

of course, some people will always go away mad no matter what. It's not the point of the exercise to mollify hurt feelings, any more than it is to create them. However the onus falls on the critic to try to avoid deliberate antagonism of their subject; if they get pissed anyway, well, that's kind of their twisted panties, and the critic - ideally - can just say "I tried my best."

Criticism as an evaluative or corrective exercise can occur in any area of human life. Criticism can therefore take many different forms. How exactly people go about criticizing, can vary a great deal. In specific areas of human endeavour, the form of criticism can be highly specialized and technical; it often requires professional knowledge to understand the criticism.

Finally, criticism has goals. A critic is trying to accomplish something, trying to get a change, or at least a reevaluation of the subject. Criticism is not for its own sake, it has form and purpose. Think of your teachers in school. Did they correct your mistakes and provide you with information on how to do better, or did they just ball up the paper and say "fuck you, asshole"?

When you engage in criticism, you set an agenda for yourself. "This is the problem, this is what I think needs to be fixed, these are the arguments I will present in the hopes of getting them fixed." In the course of this you are also going to accept the possibility that you don't know as much as you think you do, or that the other side is just going to say "no." You can of course press on - many critics do, which is why "The Phantom Menace" looks like a pit bull's favorite chew toy. But kicking and screaming isn't going to get your arguments any more accepted.

Now, if we have a better understanding of the term "criticism," let's go back to the subject; Mohammed cartoons.

So, if these are "criticisms," what, exactly, are they criticizing? Islam? How? What aspect of the idea is being explored for criticism here? is it the Islamic prohibition against depictions of the human form (not just Mohammed)? if that's the case, then what is the argument being presented? How informed are the critics of the idea they are criticizing? Can they at least make an opening presentation without intentional antagonism? Can they carry on the discussion in a rational manner, or do they just descend into kicking shit?

A study of the material at hand makes it fairly clear that these aren't actually criticisms. They're just insults, someone going "HEY MUSLIMS, FUCK YOU RAGHEADS HAHAHAHAHA!" While some people may respect that sort of thing (or, if nothing else respect its legality in the US) there's really no way to call it "criticism." All that is happening when people do this and call it "criticism" is that they are chodes who think they can pretend to be high-minded and intellectual. "gasp! How dare you accuse me of being an asshole, I'm criticizing!"

Contrary to your bullshit claim, no one is saying that religion should get a pass - least of all me. I'm of the opinion that religion is at its very core, a system for subverting ethical behavior and replacing it with a hazy, tribal set of laws known as "morals," which are almost universally antithetical to decent life as a human being. Yeah, don't accuse me of wanting to give religion a pass. I'm saying there is a right way to criticize it, a wrong way to criticize it, and as we see is the case with this instance, a non-way to criticize it.

Nor is there any real lack of criticism of religion, or Islam in specific. Stop with this horse shit where you pretend that there's some sort of gag rule on the subject. There's not, quite the opposite. Lack of support for your biases and hatreds and insults DOES NOT equal "censorship." People thinking you're an asshole when you do asshole things is not opression. You are not a tragic figure victimized by Sharia law or whatever shit you might have swimming in your head.