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Joke & Cartoon Contest |
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The Esteemed Mr. Bean
Prize
“Humor in the New Testament and the Koran.” The
first-place
prize will be an essay under 10,000 words that displays
the best theological,
philosophical and historical arguments, in English. Sources must be noted and the essay must
be clear and
persuasve. See entry details here.
There have been
interesting investigations into the use of humor in the New Testament
and nowadays most Christians, even those who hold the Bible to be a
completely accurate story to be taken seriously, have learned to
develop a sense of humor. The Tours Cartoon Wars have shown non-Muslims
yet again that we don't always understand Muslim concerns as deeply as they
feel them. There was a recent effort in England to curtail freedom of
the press and of speech under the spurious notion of "hate speech," but
widespread opposition to the bill saw it watered down to safer levels
of
toxic Statism.
Among those who fought the effort was Rowan Atkinson, better know as Mr. Bean by millions of fans. His speech in defense of religious humor and free speech should be printed in the newspapers of the Muslim world so their readers can try to understand OUR thinking. For most people who defend making cartoons of Muhammed, it is not because we seek to devalue Islam, but because we value liberty higher than a false prophet. Writers should explore the issue of humor in the Koran and in the ancient Islamic tradition, and the place of humor in the Muslim world today, and then seek to compare or contrast that with how Jesus used humor to convey his message and show his character. "Islam
prohibits neither images of Muhammad nor jokes about religion,"
This looks to be a fascinating topic, and of course is one that is vital to explore after the unprecedented outcry in the Muslim world for something as simple, in our opinion, as printing cartoons that depicted Muhammed. Many are asking "Why can't most Muslims take a joke?" "Why do they think they can dictate the laws of speech and press freedom to suit their own agenda? Is there humor in the Koran?" Entries are sure to enlighten us all and might hopefully help bring some understanding to the issue. (Sorry,
Mr. Bean, you can't enter your own prize! You can sponsor it though!!!!)
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