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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=3 color=navy
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'> “</span></font><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>The
leading opera house in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region></st1:place>
just canceled the Mozart opera “Idomeneo”, they did this because
they feared religious pinheads would literally disembowel them if they put it
on. In this 1781 opera the king of Crete, Idomeneo, carries the heads of
Muhammad, Jesus, Buddha and Poseidon on to the stage, placing each on a
stool, the king of Crete then sings “The gods are dead!”
Sounds like a good start to me.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>There was no major
difficulty cutting off the heads of Poseidon, Buddha or even Jesus; but Muhammad
was another matter.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3 color=navy
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>This is
probably an exaggerated reaction on the part of the opera house after the
Danish Mohammad cartoons incident. In that situation extremists manipulated foreign
reaction with false material (including cartoons that weren’t part of
what was originally published) to drum up anti-Western and anti-Danish sentiment.
The resulting rioting led to a few deaths. I could see something similar
happening with this opera or any number of other like things. Just imagine the
extremist Imam, telling his flock that the Germans have shown an opera where an
actor marches about with the severed head of the prophet! (Carefully not
mentioning the fact that the dismember bits of other religions’ leaders
are also on display.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3 color=navy
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>But for that
scenario to play out, there has to be someone there intending to use the opera’s
presence as a political/ideological weapon. (There was in the case of the
cartoons.) The more businesses stand up to that kind of manipulation, the less
effective it will be. If we’re afraid that foreign cultures will riot
over an expression of our own culture (a literary one at that!) we’re
playing exactly into the hands of the extremists.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3 color=navy
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>></span></font>
You're wrong, change your thinking to my view" is rarely an effective way
to influence someone. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3 color=navy
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>Challenging
someone’s beliefs whether directly or with subtlety can be a very
effective way to influence someone. Even insulting someone’s beliefs can
be effective. (The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region>
punk movement was based on that!) That being said, I read John K Clark’s comment
as a “this is fucked up!” kind of frustration thing, not an insult
to the religious believers on this list.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
12.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><font
size=3 face=Wingdings><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Wingdings'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>Ø<font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></font></span></span></font><![endif]>I
would suggest that if you really wanted to disinfect a particular strain of
religious belief that you would have to understand the behavior of the meme in
much the same way the biological viral activity is studied before it can be effectively
countered with drugs.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>I would think that trying
to cure religion with some engineering-like method (drugs, surgery, bullet in
the head) would be morally dangerous (whether voluntary or not). You’d
just end up with a variation on a thought-control society. Maybe one intending
to be benevolent, but you’re still belief-redacting. I’d argue that
trying to change someone’s belief through horribly offensive insults is
more moral than providing them with a truth pill. Although, with the bullet in
the head approach I guess you don’t need to know so much about how the
meme, or the biology of belief works, which is a plus.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Maybe the best way to
address the problem of conflicting beliefs and their effects on society is good
old fashioned rational debate.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Brandon</span></font></st1:City></st1:place><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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