We all do stupid things and this was before his time at the club in an official capacity.īut he should step up right now and so should Dave King – this needs an apology from Chris personally and fulsomely without qualification, and the club needs to distance itself from any whiff of religious intolerance and homophobia for reasons that hardly need explaining. Should Chris Graham remain as a director? Yes. Of all clubs, of all institutions, of all cultures – Rangers really could do without the continued spectre of religious bigotry and homophobia, just at its current point of possible recovery. I say not, and I have no reason to believe he is, and am happy to write that.īut he did willingly put himself forward as a voice for fans and runs a prominent website. True, Chris – in my experience a soft-spoken and likeable bloke – was not on the board at the time and perhaps never expected to be there.Įqually, does one ludicrous outburst amount to any case that the man is a virulent anti-Islamic religious bigot and homophobe? To say nothing of homophobia – although I just have…Īnd that is what Rangers Football Club of all institutions in Scotland needs to reflect upon urgently and very carefully given its notorious history of religious bigotry.
Prophet artoon free#
So no, as a brave act of free speech it does not stand scrutiny.Īs an idiotic outburst of what looks like religious hatred and bigotry – very, very like it – it is hard to beat. This will seem to many a gratuitous act at a time when millions were content with the slogan of Je Suis Charlie – however flawed it might be. We can all think of even more offensive images – but it takes some effort to be honest.įurther, using homosexuality with the intent of causing insult is unarguably homophobic and emphatically so. This representation seems designed to be almost the most offensive image possible. Vraiment – Christophe n’est pas Charlie.įurther, the tweet appeared to feature a representation of the prophet. He has now restricted his Twitter account from public view. He has not been available for comment, unlike Charlie. Genuine free speech is dangerous.īut Chris, unlike Charlie, appears to have disguised himself as the sender. That’s the sad but real point of it all.īut Charlie did what they did openly, honestly and put their real name to it all for better or worse: publish and be damned. It is because nous ne sommes pas Charlie, that Charlie stood out and got attacked. Almost all of us did not publish such images, either from fear or the desire not to offend for no great reason. The whole point is that most news organisations and publishers and let’s face it almost all of us, are not and never were Charlie Hebdo. If you believe in it you defend his action – up to a point. You cannot have and eat your gateau when it comes to Charlie Hebdo and free speech.
There is a perfectly reasonable argument however that Chris is simply championing the freedom of speech that Charlie Hebdo – and many more of us – hold dear, and to that extent he is to be applauded not attacked. This has caused some outrage in certain quarters by people who may well be more interested in stirring up an anti-Rangers storm than being affronted at the gross insult to Islam. The drawing bore the slogan of the day: “Je suis Charlie”.
It included a drawing of the Prophet Mohamed in what I am legally obliged to call an explicit image of a gay sex act. And he thinks I am a berk.įor those new to the story it appears he sent a tweet at the time of the Charlie Hebdo slaughter, to the well-known Islamic activist Anjem Choudary. We have enjoyed a sandwich and the sofa of the STV studio to discuss the club as some may recall. I respect him as someone who has stood up for Rangers and spoken out in their defence when not so many others would. He and I have known each other for some time and it’s a relationship built solidly on un-mutual respect. The man concerned is called Chris Graham and he represents the Rangers Supporters Trust. So, as Rangers’ incoming chairman Dave King gets his feet under the table, one of the club’s non-executive directors has (or has not) given him something interesting and perhaps urgent to think about.
0 kommentar(er)
