Sensitivity Training

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

[image/]http://eecue.com/i/Station-Fire-Above-JPL_31376_32lk_l.jpg[/IMG]

OH JESUS SOMEONE CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT QUICK.

Funny comic though. Always nice to agree with comedy.

 

[RJ 17]

*waits five seconds for the unseen 4th pannel to reveal the conferencce table covered in Lemming "confetti" * Yay! :3

 

[04whim]

Well that quite instantly is my favourite strip of Critical Miss.
And one of her hallucinations is Kratos, so a god is her imaginary friend too.

 

[lacktheknack]

I like to talk with Groucho Marx. He is really insightful, and fun to hang around, and he isn't telling me to do anything dangerous or violent. You should all convert to Marxism right now, your life will improve by a 100% margin, or even by a 200% margin (those numbers are completely made up and might not reflect reality).

Oh god damnit. Now you've put in my head the mental image of Karl Marx with Groucho's glasses, 'stache and cigar. It's hilarious in all the wrong ways.

It's like those "Communist Partay" t-shirts...

OT: Ah, Erin. I love you, you insensitive clod.

 

[Darth_Payn]

Second panel was beautifully drawn. That came to mind first for some reason.

This is a joke I've heard many times, but seeing it coming from Erin just seemed hilarious. Especially given her own past situation.

It's doubly funny that she had to be told that by the hateful ***** Sharon, in her usually sensitive manner.

 

[cricket chirps]

#1 niko-mimi ears! #2 Great yet contraversal punch line #3 Keep it up and remember "there is no such thing as bad publicity"

 

[Cavouku]

*snip*

It's not about rehabilitation or retribution, or even punishment really. It's about the fact that the perpetrators made a choice, and should therefore be made to face the consequences. Like I said, I'm a massive believer in personal responsibility and accountability. If one decides they will visit violence upon others, they implicitly accept that violence will be visited upon them. Thus, it should be fulfilled.

Usually this choice is made in a state of duress, though. One does not think of consequences when their emotions take them over, or they develop that tunnel vision. They should, they always should, but they don't, and you can't fault someone for that as much as you'd think you could. We all get into that "fight or flight" mode, if we feel strongly enough about it, and that form of thinking doesn't account for consequence. They didn't know what they were doing, they just did it. The punishment should most appropriately be more so, learn how not to do it again. Choosing not to learn from an action should be punished, more so than committing an action. And even then, prevention of further problems is preferable.

*snip*

In my ideal world, people would punish themselves (part of the whole accepting responsibility thing and all).

Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world, so we've gotta make do. I don't particularly care about prison one way or the other, to be honest. My personal take on punishment is closer to "eye for an eye". Someone robs someone, they should be made to return the value of what they stole, and then fined for that value plus the value of everything they could have potentially stolen. Etc, etc.

I'm not much of a fan of prison, it's mostly just a waste of time and money with the exception of repeat violent offenders, but whatever.

I understand the desire for equivalency, but the factors that make up an equation can often be so much more complicated than x = y. They were poor, hungry, they had children, they had no knowledge of hunting or gathering, or scavenging, even if they did, they were far and wide from a rural area, and they have no street savvy, and I don't know the reasons for not taking welfare, but that's assuming you're liable for it, or it's available to you. A person left their house unlocked, or their window open, and a vagabond was acting on what they needed, not what the law asked.

Even without these circumstances, you take into account their history, their genetic predispositions, their mental state, any untreated conditions they may have. Mordin Solus said it best;

"...focused on big picture. Big picture made of little pictures. Too many variables."

If they choose not to accept the help offered, prevention is really the only option. I understand the lack of enthusiasm for prison. These people chose to do something terrible, and even worse, they chose to ignore help, removing them as a functional member of society, and they become a leech in a cell. That's why prisons should focus not only on rehabilitation, but also on reconciliation in the form of labour and services, or at least that's my ideal.

...I suppose we could talk about ideals all day and not get anywhere, couldn't we?

 

[Arif_Sohaib]

or because they're xenophobic turds looking for any excuse to put the boot in on a religion they don't even begin to understand.

This is politically correct bleeding heart liberalism at it's finest. Islam deserves EVERY single goddamn ounce of hate it gets. Speaking as someone who's family lived under the boot of an Islamic theocracy, where you could be executed for having a Bible in your family home (my family is Christian, and this very nearly happened), I understand Islam more than some bleeding heart liberal who spouts the same politically correct, inane bullshit about how Islam isn't "different from any other religion". Christopher Hitchen's would disagree.

Also, tying Islam to race by your use of the word "xenophobic" is racist in itself. I'm of Middle Eastern descent, yet no one in my immediate and extended family are Muslim.

Shit like this sets me off, when people of privilege who don't have to deal with the absolute misery Islam as a whole still brings to the world (It's not the Middle Ages anymore, so the "BUT OTHER RELIGIONS DID BAD STUFF TOO!!11!" argument doesn't really hold up), get on a moral high horse and condemn us as "bigots" for hating a religion of bigotry and hatred.

I am very sorry about what happened to you but I would like to clarify that if you lived in a Muslim county, Islam says it is the responsibility of the government to protect you.
If the government that you lived under ignored this part then they are not just terrible people, they are terrible Muslims.
When Pakistanis burnt Hindu temples in response to the Babri Masjid verdict in India, our government actually paid to repair those temples and they were following Islam when they did this. I can't provide links to this news but this was something my old history teacher(who came from India to Pakistan in 1971) told the class.
Again I am very sorry for what Muslims did to you and your family and your community.

If you are Muslim, then no offense intended. To be clear, if someone tells me they're Muslim, I won't treat them any differently, I will merely treat them the way I would want to be treated. I hate most major religions, but I will NEVER hate it's adherents blindly because they believe in something I do not. I will only hate those who give me reason to, like the idiots burning down embassies, or more recently, those fundie Christians in Greece(I think?) who assaulted press for watching a "blasphemous" film.

I am not offended at you, I am offended at the people who use the name of Islam to prevent you from practicing your religion in a Muslim country.
Islam is against doing that.
When Jerusalem was conquered by Muslims for the first time, the Caliph Hazrat Umar(R.A.) refused to offer Islamic prayers in a Church to make sure that it would not set an example for future Muslims to forcibly convert Churches into Mosques.
This is a fact that should have been known to the people who persecuted you and should have prevented them from doing that. Those people should be punished not only for doing what they did but also for marring the name of Islam by doing it.

 

[Arif_Sohaib]

Sometimes people's emotions get the best of them and they resort to violence in frustration.

Loss of self control does not excuse violent behavior. It simply means you lack discipline and self control, and should probably be punished for that on top of being a violent dick.

And I really don't want to mention Hitler again but he spread rumors about Jews before killing them. So no, if the person spreading rumors is in a position of power, it can't be ignored.(I am not talking about the guy who posted the video, I am talking about Youtube arbitrarily defining what is and what isn't hate speech on their own whims, no response video is going to get as many hits or media attention as the original and more attention would have been on the violent protestors).

Eh, somebody had to invoke Godwin's Law, don't worry about it.

And yes, he did. Know what else he did? He conspired to visit violence upon them. As I mentioned in my post, right here in fact:

The initiation of violence is inherently wrong, with a very small handful of exceptions that almost all fall under the category of "the victim was planning to initiate violence upon me".

It is acceptable to commit violence to prevent it from being visited to you. I take absolutely no issue with someone walking up and outright murdering the likes of Adolf Hitler, Fred Phelps, or anyone else actively promoting that others be attacked. They are inciting violence, and a violent response to that is perfectly acceptable.

However, if you were to walk up to, say, firebomb the apartment of a man who drew a cartoon of Mohammad blowing up a building, then you would be stepping over the line.

Also, you should always keep in mind that while other people are able to make broad sweeping generalizations about whatever, you have that exact same power. You can just as easily as they do stand up on a soap box and pull out all your evidence that they're either lying or misguided. If someone puts out a video condemning Muslims and you find it false, then you put out a video disproving their points.

It's really not complicated. If someone says something that offends you, grow the fuck up and get over yourself. And if someone says something that paints you in a bad light, stand the fuck up and prove them wrong. If you can't even do that much, then you're clearly on the wrong side of the argument.

Violently lashing out doesn't accomplish anything but piss more people off and prove yourself incapable of behaving like a rational being.

You think everyone is capable of that much discipline and self-control. And the people we are talking about are uneducated, poor and desperate. Some of them were doing what they did just for the loot. Our TV channels showed people forcing open shop shutters and taking anything they could get their hands on. Police here were too afraid to do anything about it.
And yes, the violent do deserve to be punished, the police deserve to be punished for not doing anything.

And you think the guy who posted the video wasn't planning to cause violence in Muslim countries? You think he didn't know what would happen?
And Youtube did nothing to stop that.
So youtube and the guy who posted the video, knowing fully what would happen as a result of it, deserve to be punished as well.

 

[Grape_Nuts]

What's for a xenophobic turd to fail to understand? Some people get murderously violent because of a religion, about 99% of the time, it's a certain religion. I don't have to get a degree in Islamic Studies or anything to want to put a boot to it.

Except it ain't muslims 99% of the time. At the moment, Islam is probably the most violent large religion on earth, but only by a small margin. So what? We gonna boot out all the christians and hindus next?

Citation needed. Specifically a citation relevant to the last 20 years. Now, if you only consider honor killings, then you would have a point. Course, even there Islam still takes the plurality, if not the majority. However, excluding honor killings, Islam is very much in the lead concerning violence. Definitely over 90%, quite possibly well over 99%.

Honor killings have nothing to do with Islam(maybe not even with Hinduism or Sikhism). They are an ancient Indian tradition. That is why Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims are all guilty of it.

Which is why you get a bunch of arabs and persians doing them too. Specifically honor killings are one way of enforcing population control among subsistence populations which then ossify as tradition when no longer needed.

I'm sorry but that is complete and utter bullshit. Don't ever bunch Persians with Arabs ever again.

 

[Arif_Sohaib]

What's for a xenophobic turd to fail to understand? Some people get murderously violent because of a religion, about 99% of the time, it's a certain religion. I don't have to get a degree in Islamic Studies or anything to want to put a boot to it.

Except it ain't muslims 99% of the time. At the moment, Islam is probably the most violent large religion on earth, but only by a small margin. So what? We gonna boot out all the christians and hindus next?

Citation needed. Specifically a citation relevant to the last 20 years. Now, if you only consider honor killings, then you would have a point. Course, even there Islam still takes the plurality, if not the majority. However, excluding honor killings, Islam is very much in the lead concerning violence. Definitely over 90%, quite possibly well over 99%.

Honor killings have nothing to do with Islam(maybe not even with Hinduism or Sikhism). They are an ancient Indian tradition. That is why Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims are all guilty of it.

Which is why you get a bunch of arabs and persians doing them too. Specifically honor killings are one way of enforcing population control among subsistence populations which then ossify as tradition when no longer needed.

I haven't heard of any Arabs doing it, but Persia's history and culture is linked with ours.
And the second thing makes in the context of how it may have started.
But its origins lie in cultural traditions, not religious ones.
As far as I know, the only crime punishable by death ,according to Islam, is murder which is what honor killing is.

 

[Agayek]

You think everyone is capable of that much discipline and self-control. And the people we are talking about are uneducated, poor and desperate. Some of them were doing what they did just for the loot. Our TV channels showed people forcing open shop shutters and taking anything they could get their hands on. Police here were too afraid to do anything about it.
And yes, the violent do deserve to be punished, the police deserve to be punished for not doing anything.

I perfectly understand why people are doing such. That does not excuse their behavior. As obvious as this sounds, unacceptable behavior is unacceptable. Is it suddenly alright for me to walk around shooting people, so long as I explain to everyone that asks that I had some kind of mental trauma that gives me the uncontrollable urge to shoot people?

At least in that example I'd have a valid excuse for doing so (read: uncontrollable neural impulses) instead of choosing to do so to vent.

It doesn't matter what your reasons are, visiting viol

And you think the guy who posted the video wasn't planning to cause violence in Muslim countries? You think he didn't know what would happen?
And Youtube did nothing to stop that.
So youtube and the guy who posted the video, knowing fully what would happen as a result of it, deserve to be punished as well.

I have no idea. I've never seen the video, and frankly I don't care to. To be honest, I'm not even sure precisely what video you're talking about. Last I heard, the only recent big fuss being kicked up by Muslims is about that Innocence of Muslims thing that was only ever showed to a dozen people, and if that's the one you're talking about, it's practically guaranteed that no one involved here has actually seen it, and I'm not prepared to assume intent from something I've only heard third-hand reports about.

 

[Saregon]

I hear that. I think it's cause as far as Stout goes, she's not anti-Muslim, she treats all religions with equal contempt. Referring to religious people as ones who have "an imaginary friend" is a cheap shot at anyone who believes in a higher power that can't be unquestionably proven to exist.

Two words: Unfalsifiable hypothesis.

Are you saying an unfalsifiable hypothesis is proof?

Pretty sure he's saying the opposite. The principle of falsifiability states that any proper scientific theory or hypothesis has be falsifiable to be considered 'good' science. Popper also said that no scientific theory could ever be proven, only disproven, and that the best state a theory could be in is "not yet disproven". In this, a theory that has stood for a long time can be considered true, but not undeniable. Meaning that a falsifiable hypothesis that resists falsification would be proof, but an unfalsifiable hypothesis would only be helpful insofar as to help create a falsifiable hypothesis.
Rant over.

OT: Great strip, especially liked the lemming. Because lemmings are cool.

 

[theultimateend]

I hear that. I think it's cause as far as Stout goes, she's not anti-Muslim, she treats all religions with equal contempt. Referring to religious people as ones who have "an imaginary friend" is a cheap shot at anyone who believes in a higher power that can't be unquestionably proven to exist.

Two words: Unfalsifiable hypothesis.

The most tedious concept I've ever known. It basically shits on hundreds of thousands of years of humanity exploring.

"Man, I know you figured all that shit out but why not just believe man. Things are true if we want them to be true."

I'm sorry but that is complete and utter bullshit. Don't ever bunch Persians with Arabs ever again.

Reminds me of when folks just point at anyone east of Europe and says "look an Asian person!"

Yeah uh...it's a wee bit more complicated than that >_>. I get annoyed when people group all American's together as one demographic, I can't imagine how infuriating it would be to have basically the entire height of the globe worth of folks grouped in to a single category.

So what? We gonna boot out all the christians and hindus next?

Oh, if only...

I wish I'd be alive when there's no more religion.

I'm sure I'm being naive but I imagine if educations become more common across the planet and less people are oppressed you'll find that faith will begin to fade away. It isn't that faith is bad necessarily, but generally it is used as a patch on the large scale to cover up some kind of injustice or pain.

At that point it becomes a religion.

Really the thing about religions that makes them a problem is they forget that groups are inverse squarely relevant to the population of their group. You get 2 people together and they likely can share a lot in common, maybe basically everything. Get 4 people together and you have only half as much, 8 people half that, 16 people half that, etc.

Actually I think I'm using inverse square wrong, but you get my point, once a group is beyond a dozen people it's only relevant on the most basic of levels. "We all are against rape." That kinda thing, extremes that everyone can agree on in the group.

A hundred people and its mostly a group on the faith that everyone is a copy. A thousand and you only share names, ten thousand and you don't even believe in the same path.

Every religion, and every political party, and every group in general, is a series of people under the illusion that they are in a pact with a lot of other like minded individuals. Really its just a hive of MANY much smaller groups, as small as two to three people potentially. The power comes from the illusion and the corruption comes from the reality that the odds of you sharing the vision that the leader of the group has is incredibly small. You are more likely to be hit by lighting in each of your eyes I'm sure.

So yeah, faith on the surface isn't a problem and if its a personal matter its probably both safe and healthy. But the moment you try to take something so ultimately subjective and build a consensus around it problems ensue. Cognitive Dissonance on a scale of millions is not usually positive, you get anger from some and complete surrender from others. Fantastic example is US politics these days, you only really find those two outcomes from the vast majority of folks involved.

300 million people making up 150 million tiny groups (probably) under the illusion that there are 2 groups that share anything more than a sliver of their ideals.

Oh crap...I just noticed I was babbling. Enjoy I guess.

 

[Arif_Sohaib]

You think everyone is capable of that much discipline and self-control. And the people we are talking about are uneducated, poor and desperate. Some of them were doing what they did just for the loot. Our TV channels showed people forcing open shop shutters and taking anything they could get their hands on. Police here were too afraid to do anything about it.
And yes, the violent do deserve to be punished, the police deserve to be punished for not doing anything.

I perfectly understand why people are doing such. That does not excuse their behavior. As obvious as this sounds, unacceptable behavior is unacceptable. Is it suddenly alright for me to walk around shooting people, so long as I explain to everyone that asks that I had some kind of mental trauma that gives me the uncontrollable urge to shoot people?

At least in that example I'd have a valid excuse for doing so (read: uncontrollable neural impulses) instead of choosing to do so to vent.

It doesn't matter what your reasons are, visiting viol

And you think the guy who posted the video wasn't planning to cause violence in Muslim countries? You think he didn't know what would happen?
And Youtube did nothing to stop that.
So youtube and the guy who posted the video, knowing fully what would happen as a result of it, deserve to be punished as well.

I have no idea. I've never seen the video, and frankly I don't care to. To be honest, I'm not even sure precisely what video you're talking about. Last I heard, the only recent big fuss being kicked up by Muslims is about that Innocence of Muslims thing that was only ever showed to a dozen people, and if that's the one you're talking about, it's practically guaranteed that no one involved here has actually seen it, and I'm not prepared to assume intent from something I've only heard third-hand reports about.

Wait, I thought the joke of today's comic was about the overreaction of Muslims about the "Innocence of Muslims Video". And all my arguments were based on that.
So I seriously misunderstood what you were talking about and I misunderstood the comic, sorry.
Just yesterday, I did a Media Studies assignment about Media and Religion and the whole thing is fresh in my mind.

captcha: walk the plank
It wasn't that big of a mistake!

 

[Agayek]

Wait, I thought the joke of today's comic was about the overreaction of Muslims about the "Innocence of Muslims Video". And all my arguments were based on that.
So I seriously misunderstood what you were talking about and I misunderstood the comic, sorry.
Just yesterday, I did a Media Studies assignment about Media and Religion and the whole thing is fresh in my mind.

captcha: walk the plank
It wasn't that big of a mistake!

As far as I can tell, it is. But unless I missed something, and I don't think so as it's stated right here on this site [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120137-Muslim-Protestors-Target-Google], less than a dozen people have even seen the film in question.

My point in that regard was simply that while the film may well have been meant to incite violence against/from Muslims, I am not in a position to make that judgment, seeing as I have nothing but third- and fourth-hand accounts of it.

I'm just anal like that, I don't like making conclusions without at least having seen the evidence first hand. I'll freely admit that there's a good chance the guy was attempting to generate controversy if nothing else however.

 

[HippySteve]

That aside that was a real zinger, even as a christian I felt that.

I hear that. I think it's cause as far as Stout goes, she's not anti-Muslim, she treats all religions with equal contempt. Referring to religious people as ones who have "an imaginary friend" is a cheap shot at anyone who believes in a higher power that can't be unquestionably proven to exist.

To be fair,I may be a Christian, but I find some religions like Wicca to be absolute crap. I understand where Erin(or rather the people who make this comic, since she's a fictional character) is coming from. Also, God isn't imaginary, he's just invisible.

Wicca's crazy, but the virgin birth of a child who is both God and the son of God, and when you go to Church on Sunday you're drinking his blood and eating his flesh and all evil in the world comes from a woman made from a rib who was tempted by a talking snake in a garden when the world was created 6000 years ago isn't crazy? Right, sure, let's go with that.