BruceVC

A valid point, though not very helpful to the question. Let's put it a different way, should the protection of free speech be without limits? So should anyone who decides to provoke a group that is easy to antagonize receive protection? Jaded has summarized my point in this post and previous ones he made about this particular issue For me we know people have a legal right to this art exhibition and they have a right to demand and expect police protection, in this case they also invested in private security But at what cost? Is the right to free speech worth this because ultimately what does this exhibition even mean? We know there are such things as Islamic extremists but we also know only a small percentage of Muslims are extremists. Yet I can guarantee you most Muslims will find these pictures offensive as pictures of the Prophet are not allowed, and these pictures are not just normal pictures they are extreme So Wilder's and his associates have there day and from the safety of Texas they can insult Islam through a satirical perspective but what are the consequences? Now in some conservative and benighted country like Yemen or Afghanistan some Westerner gets his head chopped off because he was American or European and its directly because of these extremists acting because of the perceived insult towards Islam from " Westerners" So I ask again " is this type of art exhibition worth it " ? Not sure what are you still asking. Many people here already replied to you. Lets rephrase your question. 'Is it worth protect freedom of speech if someone will kill people because of it?' reply and we will see I don't believe it is worth someone else getting killed because I exercise my freedom of speech So for example Wilders and the organizers of the exhibition probably won't get killed because of this but the reaction and targets of the outcry will be in countries outside the USA...as normally happens And if someone does get beheaded who has nothing to do with this art exhibition how would that make you feel? Would you still believe this is a price we as Westerners pay for free speech? And I'm not suggesting now we can't criticize Islam, I am only talking about this particular event and its consequences

A valid point, though not very helpful to the question. Let's put it a different way, should the protection of free speech be without limits? So should anyone who decides to provoke a group that is easy to antagonize receive protection? Jaded has summarized my point in this post and previous ones he made about this particular issue For me we know people have a legal right to this art exhibition and they have a right to demand and expect police protection, in this case they also invested in private security But at what cost? Is the right to free speech worth this because ultimately what does this exhibition even mean? We know there are such things as Islamic extremists but we also know only a small percentage of Muslims are extremists. Yet I can guarantee you most Muslims will find these pictures offensive as pictures of the Prophet are not allowed, and these pictures are not just normal pictures they are extreme So Wilder's and his associates have there day and from the safety of Texas they can insult Islam through a satirical perspective but what are the consequences? Now in some conservative and benighted country like Yemen or Afghanistan some Westerner gets his head chopped off because he was American or European and its directly because of these extremists acting because of the perceived insult towards Islam from " Westerners" So I ask again " is this type of art exhibition worth it " ?

Not sure how this relevant to my point in this thread but I believe abortion in certain cases is fine and the decision should be the women's choice

I don't disagree with everything you are saying, maybe this is a case of people getting tired of the double-standards to how Christians are treated in certain places and are now saying " we know this exhibition may get attacked but we don't care because this is about freedom of expression and in our culture this is sacrosanct" Sure I can understand that..I still do not think this was best the platform to make this kind of point but I can understand it

Yeah I agree, its probably the dumpiest location to attempt to attack something and the private security was more than adequate to deal with it. That's not the point I am making though

As if to prove my point, there you go. In the Middle East there is hardly any democratic government or free expression. The last Christian churches are being demolished in Iraq and Syria. We all know how the Saudis treat women. I don't see you hopping up and down about any of this, but a politically incorrect cartoon competition in faraway Texas results in you putting on your SJW superhero costume. Edit - Visual representations of living things is, by the way, Haram to Islamists. Might be why you don't see the type of art you describe, although I've seen lots of performances in that part of the world that involve burning the Stars and Stripes. I think you guys are completely missing my point, in summary if you know something is going to offend people and quote possibly lead to violence or attacks on that institution then why do it? We also know the Middle East isn't very tolerant around other religions within there own countries but what has that got to do with Western countries and how we manage our own civil rights and human rights ...its like saying " now because Coptic Christians were attacked in Libya by ISIS we should be fine with Mosques being attacked within this Western country " Don't we hold ourselves to a different standard than ISIS or any extremist group? I agree 100 % But it doesn't change the reality that people do get killed because some get offended...so why not look at reducing this source of controversy? And this art exhibition was very controversial, even the locals didn't want it in the area. So there should be no doubt that people were concerned about the reaction

Are there art exhibitions in the Middle East that mock other religions? I don't think there are But I get your point around the usage of violence. But we already know there are such things are Islamic extremists who do commit reprehensible acts, so whats the point of now provoking them?

But guys did you look at some of the art? Its not even objective....its blatantly anti-Islam, also one of the key note speakers was Geert Wilders, ask anyone who lives in the Netherlands to tell you about him and his views on Muslims Was this really about art? To me it seemed like this whole exhibition was organised under the pretense that its " about freedom of expression" but the organizers are well aware that this could lead to violence because of the controversial nature of the artwork...and then guess what? Extremists do attack the event and now what? Does this feed the narrative that " you see..Islam is a violent religion..you can't even have an art display without Muslims wanting to destroy it " Yet wouldn't you say this was about provocation and actually the desired result the organizers could have anticipated?

Yeah I agree this is a muddy one which is exactly why I want views Just to be clear if there was an art exhibition and pictures of Jesus were being displayed like in this one I would also find it offensive..my view is " what is the purpose of this whole event" ? To show the world that the organizers think that Muslims are violent? I don't get the overall point

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/gunmen-killed-anti-islam-exhibition-150504020750642.html So the organiser of this event Pamela Geller has been known to make controversial and anti-Islamic comments and has been behind this art exhibition known as the "Muhammad Art Exhibit" because it displays images of the Prophet Muhammad which is considered blasphemy by Muslims, in there religion you don't show images of the Prophet. You can see some of the images below from the exhibition ( some I find offensive and I'm not even religious ) http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/05/02/sold-out-may-3rd-muhammad-art-exhibit-and-contest-in-garland-texas-photos/ So here is my question, we know these types of events are legal in the USA despite being offensive to most Muslims...so why have them? Do we balance the right to freedom of expression against the safety of people and say " you are welcome to arrange this art exhibition but you are at risk and the Police cannot guarantee to protect you " Because apparently these attackers had a bomb as well and could have created real havoc..and for what? Just so someone can have some really controversial art show? So I'm not sure on this one in the sense " is it really worth having these types of events " knowing the amount of manpower that is now needed just to keep the premises safe ?

How come you guys aren't making posts saying how you sorry you are this event was cancelled? Its like your GG event and the bomb hoax...the point being the threat of violence has impacted someone saying what they want to say...we should be condemning this ?

No come on, you can't be serious....are there really people you know who are that painfully pedantic?

No one should be able to ask for any additional feature or enhancement until we know Romance is in the next PoE We need to prioritize things guys

Laughing all the way to the bank ..... kgambit lets be honest for a second....when you see how much money Mayweather makes don't you think " I wish I had become a professional boxer instead of my current career " ? No because I suck at boxing and there's no way I would get into a ring with a trained professional boxer to take a pounding. Besides my wife would hate it if this pretty face got all disfigured. And my RL job is quite lucrative thank you very much. Actually my comment was aimed more at the suckers who actually BOUGHT the PPV and watched the fight. Or the idiots who paid 20k$ to 40k$ per ticket for ringside seats. My hats off to the hype machine. LOL Edit: The current record for highest-grossing pay-per-view fight involved Mayweather and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in 2013 with around $150 million. This fight destroys that. Well played. You funny, good post

So I started on my single player journey and the game hasn't disappointed one little bit Its this huge, immersive world where I can speed, and ramp, and rob, and create anarchy and its really entertaining Great game

Laughing all the way to the bank ..... kgambit lets be honest for a second....when you see how much money Mayweather makes don't you think " I wish I had become a professional boxer instead of my current career " ?

Geez Monte those are very powerful words..I have to say I don't necessarily agree or understand everything you are saying but they resonate, you have a gift with words no doubt But why so depressing, you can't put a more positive spin on things? It can't be all bad...because thats what I get from your post

"flying robot "

I love how you can all of a sudden be dismissive of anonymous threats when the target is right. Some supposed "Bomb Threat". People who can be this hypocritical are just scumbags. You have to admit some of those comments are funny

Right I'm making my famous " BruceVC Spaghetti Bolognese " for lunch today I have an excellent bottle of red wine which I'll be cooking with and drinking...or course !!! And I'll be inviting a member of the fairer sex to join me in my Italian festivities ..so the day is looking really good

I rock..I'm sorry, I have to say this Today I embraced the difficult art of DIY and managed to change a light bulb in my room..but it wasn't any ordinary light bulb I had to unscrew the cover over the actual bulb which was positioned in a precarious position....but I said to myself "what would Gfted1 do " .."would he let a dangerous light bulb undermine all his DIY efforts and history " ...NEVER !!! So I changed the bulb despite the risk ..yeah as I said ...." I rock"

Geez...that list is depressing...I didn't realize it was quite that bad

I wasn't aware of that, I am not huge supporter of boxing so I don't know the history of all the boxers . Very disappointing....very disappointing

Volo you know what always amuses me about this thread, the constant contradictions I see you guys making. In the beginning you at least use to try to defend it or explain it ...now its just blatant and seems to lack any compunction Two of my favorite ones are " We at GG are opposed to censorship and believe in free speech....but we want companies to pull advertising from the likes of Kotaku and Gamasutra in the hope these websites close down because we don't like what they say about GG" "We don't like generalizations about GG, generalizations are wrong. Yet all SJW are Nazis and because there was a bomb hoax at the GG conference this just confirms that anti-GG is like ISIS ( so now because of a bomb hoax the whole of anti-GG which consists of tens of thousands of people is like a brutal and outdated extremist group that chops off peoples heads and crucifies its opponents.....hyperbole anyone ? ) But you guys are very entertaining...so keep up the laughs Just gonna say to the first point, Technically, that's not censorship. Censorship is them asking for the government or somebody else coming in to shut them down for saying what they're saying. Pulling Ads is saying "Oh, you can say it, you just might not get money for saying it!" Sure you right about definition of what censorship means But free speech? These websites are openly opposed to GG and people on this thread want these websites to go out of business...how do you reconcile that when you say " I believe in free speech" ? So we only really believe in the principle of free speech when the free speech supports our views?

Volo you know what always amuses me about this thread, the constant contradictions I see you guys making. In the beginning you at least use to try to defend it or explain it ...now its just blatant and seems to lack any compunction Two of my favorite ones are " We at GG are opposed to censorship and believe in free speech....but we want companies to pull advertising from the likes of Kotaku and Gamasutra in the hope these websites close down because we don't like what they say about GG" "We don't like generalizations about GG, generalizations are wrong. Yet all SJW are Nazis and because there was a bomb hoax at the GG conference this just confirms that anti-GG is like ISIS ( so now because of a bomb hoax the whole of anti-GG which consists of tens of thousands of people is like a brutal and outdated extremist group that chops off peoples heads and crucifies its opponents.....hyperbole anyone ? ) But you guys are very entertaining...so keep up the laughs