Quote of the day

The tale science tells about how we got here (and got to the point where we could ask such questions) is not just truer than the bronze-age claptrap of The Bible (or Qu’ran or stories about Marduk or whatever…) but more compelling. We are DNA on the right-handed scroll and it has taken four billion years to make us. We are that amazing. Isn’t that more compelling than some old shit about talking snakes and a job done in six days? Is it not a truly grand narrative?

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Link, via samizdata. I think it is, and I can’t but believe that the reason why some people think differently is that they’ve either never been told this narrative, or have never given it a shot, even if they have. If you’re one of those people for whom using multiple senses at the same time increases your susceptibility level and the impact level of that which is communicated (most people are, and the fairy tale guy with the long white beard up there has nothing to do with this either), I would expect the video from Nick M’s post to increase the force of the argument further:

Mikko Ellilä

Mikko Ellilä is a Finnish blogger who has been found guilty of racism. The punishment was 60 day-fines totalling 360 Euros (not including blood, sweat, tears and legal expenses). An English translation of the court proceedings are available here.

In Finland, people can be – and Mikko Ellilä has now been – punished for merely stating facts that are already publicly available, facts that have in fact been made public by the very same government that is punishing people for stating these facts.

This is insane.

Below follows a small excerpt from the proceedings. Mika Illman, the state prosecutor:

This case is not about freedom of opinion. Mr Ellilä is free to hold any opinions that he wishes. However, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibits abusing these rights. Freedom of speech may not be misused.

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It is true that there is a lot of violence in Africa. However, this does not justify generalisations about immigrants living Finland having a tendency to commit acts of violence. I don’t deny that there are immigrants in Finland who commit crimes, but discussion about such matters should be conducted in a respectable vein. Presenting half-truths and coloured truths, as Ellilä does, fulfills the criteria of incitement against an ethnic group. Sentences that begin with words like “Africans behave…” or “Negroes only obey…” are much too broad generalisations to be considered acceptable.

Claiming that one ethnic group is less intelligent than another can also be considered slander.

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So according to mr. Illman, the case is not about ‘freedom of opinion’. The first question to ask here is this: How can you have freedom of opinion if you do not have freedom of speech? It’s a tough question, I know. Having asked that question, I might add that mr. Illman’s statement is actually not completely untrue; as mentioned, even simple statements of facts where no opinion is presented can be deemed illegal. In Finland they’ve taken it one step further than just disallowing opinions that some people don’t like: Facts that do not fit in are illegal too. If reality isn’t good enough, as in some areas it certainly appears not to be, the government reserves the right to redefine it and punish those that do not agree to play along. To make it all even better, the law applies differently to different people, as mentioned before. If you’re a blogger you get punished for stating the obvious. If you’re working in a government agency publishing the very same facts, well…

I don’t understand any of this. I just don’t understand what’s going on. This is insane. Why don’t people see how insane, how utterly crazy this stuff is? Why don’t people care, where’s the outrage, how could politicians seriously expect to get away with this – why do they get away with it? It’s going on in Canada, it’s going on in Finland. It’s spreading.

Right now I feel like crying, all this is just too stupid, too…