Columnists
Nothing Trumps Common Sense
FATEHPAL SINGH TARNEY
"Your Freedom Ends Where My Nose Begins!" [Anonymous]
I remain a strong supporter of freedom of expression.
However, there is no law in any land that should not hold it accountable and cognizant of the sensibilities of other individuals and groups.
The idea that a given magazine is an “equal-opportunity” offender does not impress me as a good enough reason to be irresponsible. I think the real challenge for an artist is to be creative within basic boundaries of respect and decorum.
I think we Sikhs can set a good example for the world as a whole in this regard. Allow me, for just a moment, to continue to play Devil’s Advocate and pose this uncomfortable question: who, given human history, would have superior justification to disparage Islam: Sikhs who lost two of their ten Gurus to torture and death at the hands of evildoers acting in the name of Islam, or the very talented cartoonists who could have done other, more constructive things, in the interest of peace and understanding?
We Sikhs, of course, do not belittle other faiths. Period. The gratuitous ridicule of any and all religions, even of atheists, is not art, but wanton recklessness and a blatant disregard for the rights and freedoms of others.
Yesterday, Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski (an advisor to the Presidents of the United States from 1966 to 1981) on MSNBC made a similar point by distinguishing between censorship and common sense.
Surely, no right or freedom is so absolute that it can trump common sense and basic human decency.
Moreover, remember, we Sikhs will pay a heavy price for the resulting anti-Muslim reaction to the Paris attack as we did after 9-11.
Why? Because common sense is rarely seen in operation when emotions take over human senses and take off like a runaway train …
January 11, 2015