INLCP's "Grow a Thicker Skin" Rant

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It seems that political correctness these days is paving the way for extreme sensitivity of the most irrelevant issues. Anything that creates even the slightest annoyance/offence is enough to send many thin-skinned individuals into a snit fit and a tirade worthy of a princess who didn't get a good night's sleep simply because her pillow was too thick.

I'm speaking of course not of video games, as they are a scapegoat of modern religious over zealous paranoia and intent on blaming something that doesn't agree with their ingrained 'morals' and 'principles', but of issues that are springing up like weeds in a flower patch. Issues that could've otherwise been classified as 'irrelevant' have become forerunners in justifying 'righteous outrage'.

While there are many, IFLCP will pick its favourite three.

These are in no particular order despite that they are being numbered (this being, strictly out of convenience).
1. Anger grows over Muhammad cartoon

First off the top, the Arab nations' outrage to Danish editorial cartoons depicting their 'sacred' prophet, Muhammad. These cartoons were published in a Danish newspaper, in a primarily Christian nation, where freedom of the press is convetional and editorial cartoonist have exhausted traditional sources for their jabs and mockings.

According to Islam, caricatures, depictions, statues and other related forms equate to idoltry, and in this faith, it is anti-Islamic to have any images of the prophet Muhammad.

However, there was no instance of these cartoons being published in media that is directed at these people; it's designed for the Danish public. It was propogated into France and Germany, where the images were republished, sparking more 'outrage', despite that all three nations have freedom of expression and press on their books.

Letters of protest from LOCAL residents to the offending papers would've been far less deserving of INLCP's mockery than those of people who have likely never seen these publications in their life. The use of guns against officials unrelated to those who have made the publication and the burning of flags from those nations do no one any good; it especially bodes terribly for the so-called 'offended'.

Those who are protesting it need to stop and consider their position.

How can they protest this when they've violated elements of their own religion? After all, the Qu'ran doesn't directly call for women to wear any veil or even cover up; it merely calls for modesty on the part of the female and the male. The veil is a local adaptation. Women are considered equals in the Qu'ran, though not the same as men; this doesn't mean they are to be overruled by men, in fact, the only bing theyr are directly overruled by is Allah.

Holy Warfare, or Jihad was never endorsed directly; during the crusades, Muslim folk used slaves to do their fighting, because their religion and faith explicitly forbade such actions, as it never directly guaranteed a man many wives. It was done out of convenience after there was a shortage of men due to the crusades.

Those who were protesting this, need to grow a thicker skin and end the hypocrisy if they truly wish to be taken seriously.

Oh, while we're at here... Mohammed Image Archive

2. China ban for Memoirs of a Geisha

First it was anything with the following words: 'democracy', 'freedom' and 'liberty'. Then came the round in which they took the bloggers into the boxing ring, blind folded them and hit them below the belt. Any accurate details of Tiananmen Square massacre are taboo, as is anything homosexual - of course, in the name of protecting the people and the state.

The crusade doesn't end there. They've taken it to the next level and have directed their eyes and ears to the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha. The government and pressure groups have even led the movie industry to decline to release it. Gee, one less movie for the black market industry...

The decision to cast Chinese actresses Ziyi Zhang and Gong Li in leading roles as Japanese women has caused controversy in China.

Critics say it is insensitive because of Japan's atrocities during their occupation of China in the 1930s.
...
Film company Sony Columbia Tristar Pictures said Memoirs of a Geisha would not be released in China "because of the negative social response to the film reflected on various media".

So... it's 'insensitive' because of Japan's wartime atrocities?

This is perplexing. After all, Germany has been forgiven by their European neighbours and have healthy relations with them, and they too committed many wartime atrocities.

Further, didn't The UK hold Hong Kong in 'occupation' longer than Japan held any of its wartiome conquests? Didn't the Brits commit some nasty crimes there?

Didn't Japan already apologise?

Further, the movie has no link toward the war...

Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup, and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it.

Memoirs of a Geisha

3. Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of the pay-to-play game WoW (World of Warcraft) in their inifite wisdom have decided that it's perfectly justifiable to allow the Jesus lovers and Bible thumpers to impose their views onto others and spam the local channels in WoW with their religious propoganda, but it is a big no-no if a GLBT guild to even exist.

Blizzard decries orc-on-orc gatherings (I won't bother to repeat what Demodulated has already said simply because I agree).

Online game warns gay-lesbian guild

In recruitment messages she posted on WoW, she wrote that the guild was not "'glbt only,' but we are 'glbt friendly.'"

To WoW publisher Blizzard Entertainment, however, Andrews' message was out of bounds. The Irvine, Calif.-based game publisher said her recruiting was a violation of the game's harassment policy, specifically the section of that policy regarding sexual orientation.

Ok, this is questionable, since, IFLCP isn't sure if this is a case of the publisher needing to grow a thicker skin, taking a lesson is not discrimination, or that the publisher lacks an IQ that prevents them from following the sheep mentality, but in either way, it's NOT harassment when it's a FRIENDLY place for people who are normally persecuted, and ironically, at the hands of those who are recruiting for the religious guilds.

If they're concerned about harassment related to sexual orientation, perghaps they ought to muzzle the religious movement that they're permitted to propogate in their cyberspace.

In an interview with CNET News.com, Blizzard public relations manager Gil Shif said that the company is reviewing the harassment policy and plans to modify it in the near future. The policy will likely be broadened, Shif said, to go beyond limiting prohibited language to that which is insulting and to include "any language that could result in situations where players are going to break down into harassing debate. It's just not appropriate for a gaming environment."

To Andrews, however, Blizzard's position doesn't hold water in a game that provides keyboard commands that allow characters to say things like, "Homogenized? No way, I like the ladies!"

"They state that they don't want mention of sexuality in their game, for fear it may cause people to harass others," Andrews said. "Yet they have things like this in the game already that (were) put there by them."

To some observers of online games like WoW, Blizzard's decision to warn Andrews gets harassment protection backward.

It seems that the player, Sarah Andrews who has created this guild isn't alone.

"We recognize that stopping harassment is extremely important," said Brian Chase, a staff attorney at Lambda Legal, an organization that promotes civil rights for the GLBT community. "But the way to stop the harassment of gay people is to stop the harassers, not insist gay people be quiet."

Interestingly...

Those rules state that players agree not to transmit language that is "unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, that may be invasive of another's right of privacy or publicity, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable."

So, it seems that advocating/advertising for a guild in WoW that is GLBT-friendly falls under these rules and is breaking the rules.

Yep, they really need to grow a thicker skin and return to school to learn what real harassment is.