Muslim Response to Comedian Mocking Christchurch Victims (2020-08-03) ​

0:00:00 [Music]
0:00:08 this video is a response
0:00:10 to a joke a supposed
0:00:13 joke that a comedian made
0:00:16 about the christ church event which took
0:00:19 place last year
0:00:20 whereby 52 people were horrifically and
0:00:24 monstrously
0:00:25 uh killed in their place of worship
0:00:28 let's
0:00:28 hear the joke and let's hear the
0:00:31 justification
0:00:33 for the joke this australian extremists
0:00:36 stormed this building this mosque
0:00:38 this room where people were saying their
0:00:40 prayers and going about their business
0:00:42 and for me the saddest thing about that
0:00:46 it wasn't the 52 people who were killed
0:00:49 it wasn't the countless others who had
0:00:51 their lives changed forever because
0:00:52 their family members were taken from
0:00:54 them
0:00:56 it was the hundreds of people that night
0:00:57 who couldn't make it home from
0:00:58 nightclubs in christchurch because all
0:01:00 the cabbies were dead
0:01:11 [Applause]
0:01:15 so in trying to defend his views
0:01:18 this comedian has come out with a range
0:01:21 of
0:01:22 arguments really of justification so
0:01:25 let's hear the first one
0:01:26 key word there is it is a joke
0:01:30 it is not real it is make believe i
0:01:33 don't really feel like that but that is
0:01:35 what comedy is
0:01:36 what i've got here is the dictionary
0:01:38 definition of what it is to be a joke is
0:01:40 something such as a funny story or trick
0:01:42 this cambridge
0:01:43 dictionary that is said or done in order
0:01:45 to make people laugh
0:01:46 your criteria of uh the joke having to
0:01:50 be something which is
0:01:51 um or assumed to be something which is
0:01:54 fictitious or
0:01:55 make believe it's not something which is
0:01:57 indicated with the dictionary definition
0:01:59 i've looked at more than one dictionary
0:02:00 definition
0:02:00 so why is it that you want us to assume
0:02:03 that
0:02:04 a joke is something which is make
0:02:05 believe fictitious or doesn't correspond
0:02:07 with what you believe in
0:02:08 doesn't make sense it's not in line with
0:02:10 the definitions i have so the problem
0:02:12 with this joke
0:02:13 is not just the fact that you
0:02:15 trivialized or minimized the plight of
0:02:17 the 52 people that were killed in cold
0:02:19 blood
0:02:20 yes and the families of those
0:02:21 individuals who are also grieving and
0:02:23 probably still grieving at this moment
0:02:26 at such a horrific and monstrous event
0:02:28 in the history of the world
0:02:30 it's not just this fact but it's the
0:02:32 fact that you homogenized
0:02:34 this group of muslim people as if they
0:02:36 are one ethnic
0:02:38 group all of which have one occupation a
0:02:41 singular
0:02:41 occupation which is what taxi driving
0:02:44 taxi driving
0:02:46 when in fact islam and muslims are a
0:02:49 diverse
0:02:50 group of individuals and the people who
0:02:51 died were different genders in different
0:02:53 ages let's let's be frank
0:02:55 you might be saying oh this is pedantic
0:02:56 it's a joke no sorry i don't this does
0:02:58 not work with me
0:02:59 it does not work with me because the
0:03:00 word joke here yeah and what it means to
0:03:02 be a joke is not this what you what you
0:03:04 try to put forward and fool your
0:03:05 audiences with
0:03:07 it's not that so having said this now
0:03:10 not only is that the case but you
0:03:13 you made it as if those individuals who
0:03:16 are now homogenized and otherwise
0:03:18 yeah those muslims who are the taxi
0:03:19 drivers have the sole job
0:03:22 of taking people away from taking people
0:03:25 home from nightclubs
0:03:26 living a liberal lifestyle a non-islamic
0:03:28 lifestyle so here the point is this is
0:03:30 that not only have you homogenized
0:03:33 and otherwise the muslims but you have
0:03:36 made them the servant class
0:03:38 the slave class whose job it is
0:03:41 to facilitate the liberal lifestyles of
0:03:44 those people who are enjoying themselves
0:03:46 in clubs and pubs uh out
0:03:49 on that night and that is for you the
0:03:50 tragedy now you might be saying
0:03:53 it's not why i actually believe it's a
0:03:54 lie it's make believe but that's not
0:03:56 what it is to be
0:03:57 a joke and we're gonna explain why your
0:04:01 sacred values and i use those words
0:04:03 clearly
0:04:04 of freedom of speech absolutism is in
0:04:07 fact
0:04:07 flawed in what follows but we laugh
0:04:10 about horrible things all the time it's
0:04:12 how people deal
0:04:12 with tragedy and he even says in another
0:04:15 part of his video that we i he himself
0:04:17 made a joke about the holocaust and
0:04:18 about 9 11.
0:04:19 it's not about you a white man yeah that
0:04:21 lives in australia making a joke about
0:04:23 9 11 or this or that so but imagine if a
0:04:25 muslim
0:04:26 yeah a practicing traditionalist muslim
0:04:29 had made a joke about 9 11.
0:04:31 that's the comparison the comparison is
0:04:34 imagine if a traditionalist muslim who
0:04:36 is clearly visibly
0:04:37 practicing his religion yeah made a joke
0:04:40 about nine that's the that is the
0:04:41 correct kind of comparison
0:04:44 then how would the the the public the
0:04:46 american public react to that
0:04:48 and would they have a right to react
0:04:49 angrily to that that's the question it's
0:04:51 not about whether you
0:04:53 as a white man who has no connection to
0:04:56 the to islam or
0:04:57 muslims yeah make a joke about 9 11 on
0:05:00 the whole of course it's about
0:05:01 whether muslims make that joke practice
0:05:03 visibly traditionalist
0:05:04 practicing muslims make that joke yeah
0:05:07 and whether that could be or would be a
0:05:09 response which i i'm pretty sure they
0:05:10 would be
0:05:11 in england or usa or whatever it is
0:05:14 it is just laughing at horrible things
0:05:16 and i understand why you're offended
0:05:19 because i'm offended by it too that is
0:05:22 the point
0:05:23 this is problematic because in the
0:05:24 beginning of this whole video you were
0:05:25 showing us screenshots
0:05:27 of people uh abusing you online
0:05:29 cyberbullying
0:05:31 so if you really thought if you really
0:05:33 thought
0:05:34 that being offended should not be the
0:05:37 criteria
0:05:38 for people saying or not saying some
0:05:39 things why are you even showing us the
0:05:41 abuse that you suffered
0:05:42 why are you even showing us that if you
0:05:44 really thought that this was the case
0:05:45 why are you showing us the fact that
0:05:46 these people were saying
0:05:47 mean spirited things to you online
0:05:50 who cares if you felt offended by that
0:05:52 so really it's one
0:05:54 uh standard for yourself but another
0:05:56 standard for the community which you
0:05:58 think is a disposable one which i think
0:06:00 you're learning is not which is the
0:06:02 muslim community
0:06:03 if you treat me with respect i will
0:06:04 treat you with that same respect
0:06:06 and then a minute 5 40 you talk about
0:06:08 respect
0:06:09 as if you we're gonna really listen to
0:06:11 you yeah it's really let's be real
0:06:13 i mean that's the joke if you want to
0:06:15 make a joke you want to make a joke
0:06:17 yeah that's the joke that you are going
0:06:20 to start talking to us
0:06:21 about all of after all you've done about
0:06:24 respect
0:06:25 what is the what is the definition of
0:06:26 the word respect due regard one of the
0:06:28 definitions is
0:06:29 do you regard for people's feelings so
0:06:32 if you have respect for me
0:06:33 you're talking about reciprocity and
0:06:34 respect that if you have respect for me
0:06:36 i'll have respect for you and vice versa
0:06:38 and so on
0:06:39 but what if we're telling you right that
0:06:41 what you're doing is disrespectful
0:06:43 and you continue saying i'm gonna do it
0:06:45 so is that is that respectful
0:06:46 according to what respect actually means
0:06:50 so you seem to be a contradictory man a
0:06:53 contradictory man
0:06:54 a man who hasn't got his morality
0:06:56 figured out this is the problem
0:06:59 intellectually you're bankrupt you're
0:07:02 morally bankrupt
0:07:03 you have no sense of direction when it
0:07:06 comes to what can i say and what can i
0:07:08 not say
0:07:08 i genuinely believe that everything is
0:07:11 okay
0:07:12 which means you're a free speech
0:07:14 absolutist
0:07:16 but society even liberal thinkers
0:07:19 okay liberal thinkers who argued the
0:07:22 case for freedom of speech
0:07:24 they would restrict and censor freedom
0:07:27 of speech
0:07:29 as per the harm principle on certain uh
0:07:32 occasions for example plagiarism
0:07:35 copyright
0:07:36 um leaking industrial secrets
0:07:39 of government for example military
0:07:41 secrets these are all
0:07:42 examples um of i'm sure if someone took
0:07:46 your video and put it on
0:07:47 on their youtube channel you wouldn't
0:07:48 like that and you might even say you
0:07:50 know what this is not the kind of
0:07:51 freedom of speech
0:07:52 yes i accept because this is copyright
0:07:55 and plagiarism
0:07:56 otherwise you should make a video
0:07:58 explaining to everyone that you allow
0:07:59 your content on their channels
0:08:02 you should do this if you are truly a
0:08:04 free speech absolutist
0:08:06 but you will say no it's copyright and
0:08:07 plagiarism and so on and so forth
0:08:09 and if that is the case and if that is
0:08:10 your position then you realize that
0:08:12 there is a need
0:08:14 a practical need yes a practical need
0:08:17 for some kind of censorship
0:08:19 so if you realize that there is a
0:08:20 practical need for some kind of
0:08:22 censorship in order for economy
0:08:23 and society to move forward
0:08:26 the question is who sets the parameters
0:08:29 for such need
0:08:30 where does it become inappropriate or
0:08:33 otherwise immoral
0:08:35 for certain things to be said or not to
0:08:36 be said
0:08:38 and what the contradictory set of
0:08:41 propositions you're putting forward is
0:08:43 there is nothing sacred and that is the
0:08:45 way
0:08:46 that comedy should be but the irony the
0:08:48 mother of all ironies is the following
0:08:50 is that for you comedy is sacred and not
0:08:54 only is that
0:08:55 not only is comedy sacred but free
0:08:57 speech is sacred as well
0:08:58 you're saying nothing is sacred but you
0:09:00 actually are upholding a sacred
0:09:02 principle
0:09:03 in fact you could even argue depending
0:09:05 on how you define religion a religious
0:09:07 principle
0:09:08 yes that free speech
0:09:12 should be upheld which is in my
0:09:14 understanding of it
0:09:15 a sacred principle don't make yourself
0:09:17 out to be a neutralist
0:09:19 when it comes to uh free speech and so
0:09:22 on and so forth you do
0:09:23 prioritize and hierarchies yes you do
0:09:26 that
0:09:27 a set of moral propositions over and
0:09:29 above other moral positions
0:09:30 don't say ever nothing is sacred because
0:09:32 clearly you're upholding
0:09:34 free speech absolutism as a sacred
0:09:37 morality and not only that but comedy
0:09:40 itself is sacred for you
0:09:42 so much so that you allow
0:09:45 things to be said in the name of comedy
0:09:47 that you would never probably allow
0:09:49 to be said in other contexts for example
0:09:52 copyright libel defamation of character
0:09:54 and so on and so forth
0:09:55 my question is how do you make such
0:09:57 distinction
0:09:58 on your moral philosophy how do you make
0:10:01 such a decision
0:10:02 how can you prove that on the one hand
0:10:04 yeah if you take functionalism out of
0:10:06 the picture
0:10:07 how can you prove that it's immoral to
0:10:09 plagiarize
0:10:10 and defame and on the other hand yes
0:10:14 on the other hand it's okay to say
0:10:16 whatever you want in the name
0:10:18 of comedy the problem here is you
0:10:20 actually
0:10:21 do have a god you do have a god
0:10:24 you do have a religion don't make
0:10:26 yourself out to be some neutralist
0:10:28 or some agnostic in this sense no your
0:10:30 religion is the
0:10:32 religion of liberalism and more
0:10:34 particularly
0:10:35 free speech absolutism that's your
0:10:37 religious what's sacred to you
0:10:40 okay so having said that now nothing is
0:10:43 sacred would make
0:10:44 no sense at all particularly the muslim
0:10:46 people who think i'm a horrible piece of
0:10:48 [ __ ] you want to see me burn
0:10:50 well you said that some muslims you see
0:10:52 this is the problem
0:10:53 hasty generalizations muslims according
0:10:57 to pew by the end of the century will be
0:10:58 one of every three people
0:11:00 on planet earth demographic one of every
0:11:03 three people a third of the planet will
0:11:05 be muslim
0:11:06 i don't think all i don't think you've
0:11:07 done a referendum yes
0:11:09 on 1.8 billion people and in fact the
0:11:12 quran itself says in chapter 4 verse 147
0:11:21 that what has what with allah benefit
0:11:24 what would god benefit
0:11:26 with your punishment if you are thankful
0:11:28 and you believe
0:11:30 and god is ever thankful all
0:11:33 knowledgeable
0:11:34 chapter 4 verse 147 in fact if muslims
0:11:38 are are doing what islam says or what
0:11:40 the quran says in particular they
0:11:42 shouldn't want you to be burned at all
0:11:44 muslims should yes according to the
0:11:47 quranic discourse
0:11:48 want the best for you and in fact that's
0:11:50 what i'll say to you
0:11:52 we don't want you to go to hell in fact
0:11:53 the opposite is true we don't want
0:11:55 anybody to
0:11:56 be burnt or go to hell or have a demise
0:11:58 in the afterlife which is eternal
0:12:00 eternally excruciating we don't want
0:12:02 that to happen to you
0:12:03 in fact we want you to have a
0:12:05 pleasurable eternal
0:12:07 life of goodness and that's why we
0:12:10 invite you to islam we invite you to
0:12:12 believing
0:12:13 in one god as the quran says in
0:12:15 shakhartom
0:12:16 to be thankful and gratitude grateful to
0:12:19 be thankful and grateful
0:12:21 to god and to believe in god and with
0:12:24 that you'll have
0:12:25 the ultimate purpose of life realized
0:12:28 the ultimate purpose of life which is
0:12:29 not to make
0:12:30 other people laugh that's not the
0:12:31 purpose of life i'm not saying you
0:12:33 shouldn't or you couldn't
0:12:35 you can do that as well it's a
0:12:36 subsidiary thing but the
0:12:38 the crux of the basic human function is
0:12:40 to believe in one god
0:12:41 to worship one god yeah for the sake of
0:12:46 knowing your purpose having a happy life
0:12:49 having welfare in this world and in the
0:12:50 next world we don't believe that you're
0:12:52 just gonna
0:12:52 turn into ashes and that will be the end
0:12:54 of the human experience
0:12:56 so that's something you should look into
0:12:57 and i and i invite you to look into
0:13:00 that in fact i'm having happy to have a
0:13:02 conversation with you and bring you onto
0:13:03 my podcast the mh podcast
0:13:05 where we can have a conversation a
0:13:07 religious conversation
0:13:08 a political conversation a philosophical
0:13:11 conversation
0:13:12 about these things free speech about
0:13:14 religion
0:13:15 about what you actually meant and in
0:13:17 that way
0:13:18 perhaps the muslim community can look
0:13:21 past your ignorance towards them
0:13:23 and perhaps we as humanity
0:13:26 can move forward together hand in hand
0:13:29 not offending one another and as you
0:13:31 said
0:13:32 in theory respecting one another but
0:13:35 also in practice
0:13:36 implementing such respect to another
0:13:51 you