Be Careful Not To Offend Muslims

From Pastorius of Infidel Bloggers Alliance (slightly edited):

Muslims will huff and puff and blow your house down ...

if you let them.

How pathetic do you have to be to censor fairy tales because you fear they might be offensive to Muslims? Sure, Muslims might be offended. That's the fun of having Muslims around. You never know what might offend them.

From Up Pompeii:

A digital book based on the story of the Three Little Pigs has been rejected by judges presiding over the annual BETT awards of the government's educational technology tentacle, Becta, because the literary deployment of porkers "raises cultural issues".

The CD-Rom - produced by Newcastle-based Shoo-fly - is aimed at primary school kids, but the judges said they had "concerns about the Asian community and the use of pigs raises cultural issues", according to the BBC.

The book recently secured the "Best Primary Resource and Innovation in Education" prize at the Education Resource Awards, but Becta explained to the publishers that they "could not recommend this product to the Muslim community"..................................................

This just had to happen, well quite frankly who gives a damn about what the Muslim community thinks.

This is another utterly stupid act of dhimimitude and oversensitivity.When are they going to declare Animal Farm unclean or unfit after all the Pig was the leader (if I remember correctly).

Piglet, Teddy Bears and now the three little Pigs, what idiotic people are making these fatuous decisions....

Note from AOW: Below is an excerpt from the January 23, 2008 article in the BBC News:

A story based on the Three Little Pigs fairy tale has been turned by a government agency's awards panel as the subject matter could offend Muslims.

The digital book, re-telling the classic story, 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 Bett Award for schools.

The judges also attacked Three Little Cowboy Builders for offending builders.

The book's creative director, Anne Curtis, said 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.

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?"...

Huh??? "The Three Little Pigs" is a children's story! Does "Little Red Riding Hood" create offensive stereotypes too? What about "Cinderella"? Give me a break, O easily-offended ones!

Of course, the statue of a boar is potentially offensive to Muslims, too (emphases mine):

A historic statue of a wild boar is unlikely to return to Derby's Arboretum, because it could offend Muslims living nearby. The Florentine Boar stood in the Derby park from 1840 to 1942, when it was beheaded by flying masonry during an air raid. Derby City Council had hoped to replace the statue with an identical replica when plans for a massive overhaul of the park were first considered a decade ago. But following reservations raised by some people in Normanton about a new boar statue, the authority decided to consult with local community leaders.

At a meeting of the council's minority ethnic communities advisory committee it was recommended that the boar be replaced with something else because of the strength of feeling among nearby residents as pigs are perceived as offensive creatures by many Muslims. Derwent Ward councillor Suman Gupta said, "If the statue of the boar is put back at the Arboretum I have been told that it will not be there the next day, or at least it won't be in the same condition the next day at least. We should not have the boar because it is offensive to some of the groups in the immediate area."...

Comment to that article:

I was amazed to read that for ethnic reasons the historic statue of the Florentine Boar may not be returned to the Arboretum. If this decision is upheld, how long will it be before the sale of bacon is banned and white cows are allowed to wander down the motorways? I am an atheist, but I am tolerant to the religious beliefs of others where such beliefs do not impact on their place in this society or myself. I express my beliefs, but I do not impose them on others.

No doubt this logo would be offensive as well:



Last summer, Mr. AOW and I visited the Gigglin' Pig store in upstate New York. There, I bought a Gigglin' Pig baseball cap, black with a hot-pink pig's head. I don't see the cap on the store's web site. Perhaps the cap is available only at the retail center. Anyway, I plan to start sporting my cute little cap as soon as the weather here warms up. I want to see if my cap and I are deemed offensive.

Regular readers here know me and my push-the-envelope attitude: