Topic awaiting preservation: Miss World Turmoil

quote:

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Latest Miss World News

Press release from the Miss World Organisation

The Miss World Organisation and all of the Miss World contestants were shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling comments made in the Nigerian Newspaper "This Day" that led to such a tragic loss of life.

Miss World brings together young women who are from many faiths.

The views expressed in this article were offensive to all of us and caused considerable anguish, for all the Miss World contestants, crew and staff.

Our deepest sympathies are extended to all those people who have been affected.

Reports in some British Newspapers claim that Miss World was responsible for this,

???????? There was no comment shown on their site so I included it below ??????????

This comment was totally and utterly without foundation and it is said that the pen is mightier than the sword, ironically both by the Nigerian Editorial and some British Editorial they can have tragic consequences.

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Am I missing something or did this organization just blame the newspaper and the female reporter for the violence? There are 105 people dead and churches burned to the ground over a comment in a newspaper:

?what would (Prophet) Mohamed think? In all honesty, he would have probably chosen a wife from among them (the contestants).? --published by the Nigerian daily newspaper, ThisDay.

Where is the MissWorld organization's outrage at the people who reacted with violence and mayhem to a comment in a newspaper? Does this make them complete and utter cowards devoid of any sense of justice? I am finding this very upsetting.

I agree the comment was naive but do you realize that he author of that comment above has a fatwa calling for her death?!? And not a word from the Miss World organization about that. All I see is apologies and distancing from an article that was defending the participants in the contest and was not meant to offend Muslims in the first place.

I am saying that this kind of reaction to hateful criminal behavior like those riots only serves to condone and encourage more of the same. We *must* stand up and speak out against that kind of behavior. If there was offense, we can deal with that but not with violence and hatred to fellow citizens. I am disgusted with the Miss World organization's decision to cave in like this and I am going to hope they come to their senses and condemn the death sentence put out on the author as well as those who rioted.

MissWorld.org

Info on fatwa

Rant completed... any thoughts? Other perspectives might help me calm down if I've missed something.

[edit] added fatwa link [/edit]

. . : slicePuzzle

[This message has been edited by Bugimus (edited 12-03-2002).]

I usually calm myself down by saying...

"damn. . . they're pretty nuts over there. Feh... whattaya gonna do?"

and then I continue with my uneventful code monkey life.

I here ya, but as Australia has only now realized terror is bad because it hit them directly, it is only a matter of time before the behavior "over there" becomes the behavior "over here". I don't think we can keep our heads in the sand much longer without some serious repercussions.

<in my best southern baptist congregation voice>
AMEN
</in my best southern baptist congregation voice>

Nutsos, nutsos, cowardly nutsos.

Perhaps the author was naive.
Perhaps the author 'should have known better'.

Blah, who cares.

Free press, free religion, free speech are the first of the 'Bill of Rights' not because they are 'rights' specially handed down to Americans by some almighty (because we alone are worthy), but because people decided they are rights supposed to be held by all men (and women). Just because it's not in the Koran doesn't make it inapplicable to Nigerians. Freedom of speech/press/religion isn't in the Bible either...it's still right.
That journalist had every right to say what she did...and she shouldn't have even apologized for it.

Now, the Miss World cowards...they are something else altogether. I can't think of words bad enough to describe them...and even if I did, I wouldn't use them here.

It is alright for them to express sorrow at the destruction. That is the humanly thing to do.
It is alright for them to 'apologize'...not in the sense of 'we did something wrong', but in the 'I am sorry this has happened' sense. Apologies aren't given enough in the Western world.
If they desired, it would even have been alright to write their own little statement saying the journalist was out of line, irresponsible, should apologize. I believe in free speech and a free press. Let them say what they want.

But, to incenuate that the violence was caused by a journalist and not by religious zealots is irresponsible and cowardly. And to not say one word about a death sentence being ordered to a woman for writing her opinions in a newspaper...fuck 'em. Cowardly, money-hungry, PC jackasses.

Now, I've always said, one should condemn the bad behavior AND at the same time look to fix the causes of that behavior.
I happen to believe places that are economically depressed, politically repressed, educationally deficient, are also perfect breeding grounds for anti-social behavior. People in those conditions turn to religion to justify any stupidity; accept any leader that comes their way, regardless of credentials; adopt a 'tribal', 'me first', mentality; act stupid.

So, while we can all (and should all) condemn the destruction in Nigeria, we should also look for the ways we can promote economic and political success in Nigeria.
Otherwise we're just bitching...

The people who are rioting are doing it for fun. They love to break things and cause chaos. That is all there is to it. Any excuse would work. People just love to get their frustrations out, and this just gives them an excuse.

The sad thing is that they probably don't even have a good reason for rioting.


[edit] Boredom maybe... [/edit]

[This message has been edited by Rameses Niblik the Third (edited 12-14-2002).]

I wouldn't be too quick to rule out hatred in the name of God. I think this is one of those cases where religion is one of the causes of evil There are plenty of other factors involved as with anything, but the clash between Islamic and Christian cultures in that country is a very real and volatile situation.

Well I know a girl from Nigeria who goes to my University. She says the biggest problem in Nigeria is class struggle.

There are apparently 3 tribes who are considered the social structure, she is a part of the 3rd-tier tribe (used to be first tier).

These tribes make up the big class struggle, and I wouldn't be surprised if these riots were egged on by one of the tribes families in order to gain prominence among Muslim masses there.

It's all very confusing...

May I just ask one question...what are you all tlaking about? What'd been going on with the Miss World Pageant?

Don't you get the news on The Weirder side of Walmart, Skaarjj?

I haven't been available ot watch the news for quite a while genis...been far too busy