re: "France's failings a lesson for Thailand" (BP, Editorial, November 15, 2020)
Dear editor,
France is absolutely right to protect speech that mocks religions and motley other sacred cows, whether that bovinity be Islam, Christianity, Pastafarianism, communism, Nazism, Olympianism, or some other kooky and morally suspect ideology that deems itself infallible, perfect and generally gospel truth, all perfectly fake claims most truly worthy of being mocked in a choice cartoon or other work of art.
Every purely human institution and ideal should be open to mockery. If it can't withstand some healthy critical abuse, it's not worth respecting. The US presidency does perfectly well while being mocked daily. Obama did not shrivel up and die because of some biting cartoons. The absolute righteousness of the Gay pride movement protected it from the mocking barbs of unholy traditionalists. The ideal of democracy has no need to hit back at mocking critics with draconian criminal sentences when it is laughed at.
Thailand has much to learn from France. In Thailand, too many absurd claims of being sacred, what the hell ever that even means, are taken to be sacred claims that may not be ridiculed. Ridiculous!
Felix Qui
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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.
The text as edited was published in PostBag on November 17, 2020, under the title "Nothing is sacred" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2020771/sickening-betrayal
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