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Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Freedom of Speech & your principles....
*I have this posted on another village too, but I want as many responses as I can get to this...*
Ok, be honest.
Would you truly, honestly, die or be jailed for your beliefs and/or principles, or if someone threatened you based on your religion? I mean, think of it this way: we all say we would, but when you think about it realistically, we all don't want to. we want to logically and as human nature is ...not necessarily "escape" but to make things more easy on ourselves, and be politically correct. Therefore, sometimes we surpress our views.
They say freedom of speech is limited only when the greater majority will be affected by what you say. They also say that freedom of speech is limited when you are "offending" or "physically harming" others by your actions/deeds. But why then it is ok for a hate group on a public campus ground to come and spread their poison to others, like what has happened recently at my university. These people came, by the name of Christianity, and had an anti-abortion display that was quite gruesome. Furthermore, they were spreading hate about other topics as well....
These people had 3-9 year old children holding pictures of aborted babies for their demonstration purposes! They had these kids holding pictures of gay/lesbian couples you get the idea.... and they had pictures of Muslims praying in a masjid with a caption that read "disillusionment in the world should be eliminated by all means." They also told me to my face that my religion was a lie and I had no right to exist, and then spat at my shoe.
here's the sad part...when I try to do something about it on campus, I am either told by officials that I'm whining, lying, or just there is nothing they can do about it, and that I can not do anything to them. when i took matters to my own hand by simply answering these people who spat on my shoe and pushed at me "because filth was not to touch the same square of soil of a Christian man" .... who was taken away and considered a "nuisance"? I was...not them. If it wasn't for the fact I know my rights and didn't follow what the police wanted me to do (sign a gag order and shut up), I would've had to be sucked into the police's mercy to limit my rights of defending my beliefs over someone's attack and stupidity.
so what, according to hierarchy and officials, they have their free speech and I don't? Or on a broader level, the KKK....they are allowed to spread their poisonous words around because it's ok....they're not harming anyone. What ever happened to chaos? Any law people here? I mean, the classic example of "don't go into a movie theater and yell out fire....to exercise your free speech?" what about emotional hurt? doesn't spreading hate constitute good grounds to fight these people?
i know, it's odd....but a perspective: although most of these people are disgusting jerks, i respect them enough to say that they are at least sticking up to what they (sadly) think is right. so ok, bravo to them for exercising their free right of speech and expression without censorship, but still....whatever happened to common "do into others?".....
anyway....would be interested to hear others' thoughts on this, just in case i've gone insane.
Ok, be honest.
Would you truly, honestly, die or be jailed for your beliefs and/or principles, or if someone threatened you based on your religion? I mean, think of it this way: we all say we would, but when you think about it realistically, we all don't want to. we want to logically and as human nature is ...not necessarily "escape" but to make things more easy on ourselves, and be politically correct. Therefore, sometimes we surpress our views.
They say freedom of speech is limited only when the greater majority will be affected by what you say. They also say that freedom of speech is limited when you are "offending" or "physically harming" others by your actions/deeds. But why then it is ok for a hate group on a public campus ground to come and spread their poison to others, like what has happened recently at my university. These people came, by the name of Christianity, and had an anti-abortion display that was quite gruesome. Furthermore, they were spreading hate about other topics as well....
These people had 3-9 year old children holding pictures of aborted babies for their demonstration purposes! They had these kids holding pictures of gay/lesbian couples you get the idea.... and they had pictures of Muslims praying in a masjid with a caption that read "disillusionment in the world should be eliminated by all means." They also told me to my face that my religion was a lie and I had no right to exist, and then spat at my shoe.
here's the sad part...when I try to do something about it on campus, I am either told by officials that I'm whining, lying, or just there is nothing they can do about it, and that I can not do anything to them. when i took matters to my own hand by simply answering these people who spat on my shoe and pushed at me "because filth was not to touch the same square of soil of a Christian man" .... who was taken away and considered a "nuisance"? I was...not them. If it wasn't for the fact I know my rights and didn't follow what the police wanted me to do (sign a gag order and shut up), I would've had to be sucked into the police's mercy to limit my rights of defending my beliefs over someone's attack and stupidity.
so what, according to hierarchy and officials, they have their free speech and I don't? Or on a broader level, the KKK....they are allowed to spread their poisonous words around because it's ok....they're not harming anyone. What ever happened to chaos? Any law people here? I mean, the classic example of "don't go into a movie theater and yell out fire....to exercise your free speech?" what about emotional hurt? doesn't spreading hate constitute good grounds to fight these people?
i know, it's odd....but a perspective: although most of these people are disgusting jerks, i respect them enough to say that they are at least sticking up to what they (sadly) think is right. so ok, bravo to them for exercising their free right of speech and expression without censorship, but still....whatever happened to common "do into others?".....
anyway....would be interested to hear others' thoughts on this, just in case i've gone insane.
Comments on this journal
Masha'Allah may Allah reward you for your effort on your campus.
I think that there is no one right answer to the situations you described as again, it depends, and sound judgment needs to be exercised in all cases. If you have a firm conviction in certain ways of handling things and they do not violate any rules or our personal ethics, then go for it without the slightest care for the dogs that bark. Keep in mind that given the times we are in, and given that you are a few in your university, fa akeed there is double the spotlight on you, fa be careful as you approach things, discern what matters from what doesn't, and ensure that you do not put yourself in harms way being a Muslim female, where you might be physically assaulted. Maybe in such a situation where a presence is required, ensure you are in a group with some of the brothers present.
What you are talking about requires skills which I believe insha'Allah will be refined with time, and increasing of our knowledge, and reading about the ways of da3wa in contemporary times, and maybe going to MSA regional conferences to work through these issues that come up on university campuses and see how others have dealt or deal with it. Maybe a village should be opened for students in MSA leadership positions to network together.
May Allah yewafa2ak towards all that which pleases Him, and masha'Allah for your efforts may Allah reward them.
Sincerely,
ME :)
thank you for the verses too, very true. and begad, ana mish infa3aleya, i just couldn't take it after he laid his hands on me, and the that's all.
and those group you have been mentioned in ur JE remind me of 'Johava witness" who nuck on people doors and no one give a penny in what they are saying. and let them speech hate until yo2o3oo fee shar a3malhom. the more hate and false information they spread, the more people realize the opposite.
whoever said those things about u and ur religion, respond with a beautiful ignore. the best respond is acting wise and silent, which clear to everyone how stupid this group is. we ana mesh gayeb el kalam dah men 3andi.. that's from the Quran:
"68 - When thou seest men engaged in vain discourse about our signs, turn away from them unless they turn to a different theme. if Satan ever makes thee forget, then after recollection, sit not thou in the company of those who do wrong." 6:68
"30 - So turn away from them and wait: they too are waiting." 32:30
and do not meat their insult with another insult from you. they are stupid and just ignore them.
i agree with you....being part of organizations and things are what is important, and in the past, I have written to CAIR and other such organizations about things that are truly worth changing, but as far as this current case, read on:
my main emphasis is freedom of speech, not other people's discrimination or bigotry... as upseting as it is, and as hurt/bruised as i got when they pushed me, i could care less about the idiots that spat on my shoe or their disgusting ideals, but moreso of the higher officials that try to shush my right to speak and leave them their rights. like i stated, i actually (to a degree) ADMIRE them for being able to exercise their free speech and say what they want (even though they're views are disgustingly stupid, but hey, whatever...)
HOWever, my (current) situation is not so fortunate in my university as in what was at your university. it's good the students at UCLA were/are active. on the other hand, here, when i was the one that founded MSA on my campus last year and was president of the organization, i was also the whole exec board to a degree...if you could imagine...there currently no MSA this year, because frankly, I couldn't stand having to BE the whole organization...lol.
Anyway...I was and still am the most active Muslim on campus (I'm not just saying this...of the 12% of Muslim students on our campus, maybe only 3% actually care to do things). I think that's why I'm also the most targeted by my campus's student government (i have been part of) and police, which have both in the past made me sign a gag order to shut up about things.
the reason for the gag order they want me to sign is because I'm a writer in the school newspaper and I wrote something about the hate group that came to campus and how I respect, like I said above, their right to exist and speak, but not their right to violate someone else's right to speak and debate...especially if they push you enough that you fall on the ground, simply because you stated your right to your opinion. I think, that is what i was fighting for. why was it that police and officials closed their eyes when i fell on the floor, but when i mention my views and what happened in my weekly editorial in the newspaper, I'm summoned by police to shut up?
i guess what i mean to ask is: if you felt that your personal views were being violated, which also means your freedom of speech, or your principles were under attack, would you go to the extreme of actually having the police at your campus give you problems about you being a nuisance, even though you are the one that is reporting a harassment.....therefore, you're the victim, but you're being told that you're the one that needs to be "gagged" and "shushed?" Or would you just agree to sign that gag order, shush up, and just write your views but censored and not mention anything? (by the way, part of my column also is called the "Muslim eye", which allows me to weekly right about 1-2 things about Islam....and they are also saying now that they want to censor that too....hmmmmm?)
so, would you truly stand up for your beliefs regardless of what officials want you to do? would you stand up to your beliefs even if you had no one behind you? my experience has made me realize that i am nothing compared to what the Muslims in the time of the Prophet (saw) were and what they saw.
wow, i just wrote a novel, but i hope it made better sense. i'd really love to hear your further input, and I hope i didn't bore you with so much writing.
Honestly, I'm not sure what you're asking exactly or inquiring about, so it would be great insha'Allah if you can, please share some specifics.
Based on my understanding however, I would say that in general, it "depends" on the situation. Some situations, we can't waste our time with every single dog that barks. Imagine if we did that? Not only will we waste our time, but we won't be able to focus on any efforts, whether personal, or with others, to make us stronger and more knowledgeable.
Other situations, there are outlets to address certain issues, such as through CAIR for something serious, or writing a letter for example to the editor, or when I was at UCLA, the students before me masha'Allah had started a Muslim newspaper as a voice to "educate", "eradicate misconceptions", "bridge understanding", and respond to "ignorance & bigotry" in a professional manner through possibly writing counter-articles. This is much more powerful in my opinion than to lose sleep over a guy who spit on my shoe, or to someone who says something ignorant when I'm at the mall for example.
I think that rather than to keep "reacting" to things, it is better to be involved with groups, organizations, etc., where together, we can begin to shape our own views on things, rather than just responding to them.
Tab3an, if there is anything one can handle individually, then we should, such as by sharing our views, etc.....as long as it's doeable...and not masalan spending hours at a time with a bigot who will not change their mind in a million years. Ne3mel elli 3alena w ne7akem 3a2lena...know what I mean?
What do you think? :)