I’m not the most religious Catholic,and I really don’t like people who don’t practice the religion they so ardently preach (I myself have an aunt or two who are so active with the Church but aren’t exactly nice people). But I do believe in respect.

Granted that BryanBoy is a “proud” aethiest, that still doesn’t give him the right to disrespect an icon that devotees worship. Just think of it this way… When you enter a Buddhist or Muslim temple, you know you should respect their beliefs and don’t go around doing things in there that would offend the believers. Just because you don’t believe in something doesn’t mean you have the right to disrespect those who do.

I totally agree with you on this. It’s not a matter of freedom of speech, it’s a case of common deceny.

As the line between journalism and blogging becomes blurred, bloggers are increasingly facing the same burden we do as journalists. We have to stick to certain ethical norms. Inflammatory languages or even expletives are avoided but if not, we substitute them for some characters. I was once asked by a book publisher if same journalistic ethics apply to bloggers, and I told him, yes and no. Yes, if they do write in a “journalistic” and factual manner. But if they’re not, then there is still libel. The expletives and the “controversial” photo in Bryanboy’s post were deemed inappropriate by some sectors, and we have to respect that. However, not to the point of censoring people’s freedom to express. Now, that’s tricky and until now, my class are still debating on whether to give more credit to what’s right and what’s true.

“What would Jesus/Muhammed/etc do?”

Jesus, Muhammed, and all the rest would be much bigger men than what most people are stooping to.

to be honest, i am tempted to get all riled up about this, but pausing for a moment leads me to the conclusion that there is no point to stress myself out because of someone else’s actions. it’s his blog, let him have his way with it; after all, this is a democratic country, and the Net is a democratic place. there are far more disturbing things on the web.

i agree with jason: “Finally, too bad, in this world, right and wrong always ends up relative.” too bad, indeed.

As a blogger, I could just keep on publishing stuff, and there was a time in my blogging life when I’d just been posting trivial stuff. But I’m also an advocate of quality blogging. Bryanboy may not be the Pope, but for some reason he’s up there in the top Pinoy blogs (Yeah, traffic-wise. But quality-wise? Heck no!), and this thing gets much exposure.

@Jason:

Finally, too bad, in this world, right and wrong always ends up relative.

It always has been. This is why I love watching films and reading stories where there’s no clear delineation of good and evil. The grey areas help me exercise my mind! But I believe there’s such a thing as decency. And while it is also relative, at least there are areas that most of us in the civilized world would agree upon.

There are grey areas, too, though (say, for instance, public nudity is all right in many places in Europe, but not in most of the western world and here in Asia).

@Ia:

I really don’t care about his site but I’m guessing it’s no reliable source of anything newsworthy.

Ditto!

Viral. Linkbait. Head-turner. Tabloidal. These terms come to mind. (Heck, even SEO!)

No linklove here!

I initially inadvertently linked to bryanboy since a plugin automatically converts URLs to links. No link now.

This issue might not be worth discussing if only in the light of bryanboy’s posting. But in the general sense of my wanting a better blogosphere, I think the juice is worth the squeeze (err, has anyone watched The Girl Next Door lately?).

@Ahmed:

Thanks for the enlightenment!

In the end, as long as people are not directly spitting and effecting your lifestyle (questionable if a single catholic has endured any real hardship through this) people just whine.

Endured any hardship? Hmm. I got curious and viewed his site, and OMG my eyes still hurt! This guy seriously needs a visit from the design police. Oh well, I’ve seen a lot of whining about it on blogs and comment threads of late.

And lastly – most nutcases only gain power when you give them the attention they so desperately crave. If you were to ignore them, they nicely fade into oblivion.

I agree. I hope my post does not appear as my giving to much attention. Perhaps we can treat it not as a featured blog or blog post, but as a case study for how not to blog.

Muslims are given far too much ‘credit’ for righteous indignation then we should be. Eg the German play where Muhammed’s head was cut off – it was ‘cancelled’ because of Muslim concerns. Yet again, everyone missed the point – it had run three years ago without a single complaint, and it was cancelled without a single complaint.

Most muslims don’t care. Actually, cut that – 99.99% of muslims just don’t care. There are idiots everywhere, why should we be bothered? It just so happens that portraying muslims in bad light is a great way to get attention. Most of the recent acts attributed to Muslims (hating on the Apple NYC store, shutting down German play, etc etc) had nothing to do with Muslims.

Now, in regards to the Pope’s comment and this – people seriously need context. The pope is the leader of the Catholic Church, and he essentially called Prophet Muhammed evil. This guy is some random stooge who put some clothing on Jesus. While I still think any outrage over the Pope’s stupid comment was also idiotic, comparing this incident with that is reaching. A lot

In the end, as long as people are not directly spitting and effecting your lifestyle (questionable if a single catholic has endured any real hardship through this) people just whine.

And lastly – most nutcases only gain power when you give them the attention they so desperately crave. If you were to ignore them, they nicely fade into oblivion.

has anyone watched Spiderman lately?

I watched a bit of Spidey 2 last night, actually.

In CS, there’s such a thing as a DC, a “don’t care”, i.e., something immaterial or irrelevant.

I think the sense of responsibility varies with the purpose of each blog. I really don’t care about his site but I’m guessing it’s no reliable source of anything newsworthy. And that he’s not exactly open for discussion on morality. I guess it’s scandalous because we’re part of the community and he’s tarnished its reputation.

I agree with Jason. We can’t control people’s actions. If we do wish to rebuke them, there’s a chance the effort may not be worth it.

Viral. Linkbait. Head-turner. Tabloidal. These terms come to mind. (Heck, even SEO!)

Finally, too bad, in this world, right and wrong always ends up relative.