Tags on flickr

I had written on info on the London bombings about how the blogging world had responded almost instantly to the bombs.

And now I see this message on the discussion forum of flickr – Please don’t tag bombing pictures with muslim, arab or islam – someone (who has had his photographs tagged muslim / islam) has raised this topic and it is wonderful to see positive responses on the forum –

For instance, I agree, we should not let people who have warped values make us into bigots or racist. Extremists want to separate the world and put religion against religion so they come off as “freedom” fighters.

I do not know a lot about Islam but I have muslim neighbors in my bldg and they too are angry at these evil people. If we start using tags such as Islam, arab or muslim then we should at the same time take everyone into consideration and use christian, catholic, american, protestant, jew. But this would defy what flickr is about since its about uniting people, not dividing – adrianadesigner

There are so many nuts out there and more nuts to incite these ones…

7 comments

  1. You may checkout this site:-
    http://www.werenotafraid.com/

    And also the CNN story about that site here:

    http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/11/london.website/index.html

    And what fellow wordpress users muse about it:

    http://wordpress.org/support/topic/38992

    WE, Indians have more things to worry like regulation bombings at Kashmir and periodical ones at Mumbai, Delhi, Ayodya etc.
    Not to speak of the underworld dons and their stranglehold on India.

    Yes, we have our mindful.
    Very sad, indeed.

  2. Sk, I have seen werenotafraid – checking out the other two…there are some touching articles and photographs to be found on the london bombs… thanks.

  3. Why should not Islamic terrorism pictures be labeled Islam? Is it possible to alter reality by denial? From now on, should mayhem caused by people who follow Islam — and act according to the dictares of Islam — be labeled “Martian” violence?

    If you don’t know about Islam, isn’t it time you learnt what Islam dictates? Is ignorance such a bright idea in a world where Islam has such a powerful impact? See http://www.faithfreedom.org to get yourself informed.

  5. Hey Stan, let’s see. Did you, or anyone, refer to Timothy McVeigh’s Oklahome outrage as “Christian terrorism”? What about the earlier terrorism that London was so used to, from the IRA? Was that “Catholic terrorism”? What about the Spanish inquisition, do we call it the “Christian inquisition”? How about the LTTE in Sri Lanka, are they “Hindu terrorists”; or the Sinhala leaders in that country who have spouted venom and instigated violence against Tamils for years, are they “Buddhist thugs”? Slaughter in Gujarat in 2002, was that “Hindu terrorism”? (Though the slaughter at Godhra in particular is routinely called “Islamic terrorism”).

    Your thoughts welcome.

  6. thanks, Dilip. But I dont think Stan will be back here.
    I can’t say it any better than this response on the flickr forum –
    “Somehow I imagine that the desperate people who plant bombs feel heroic in the same way that the French resistence felt heroic during the Second World War. They think are trying to liberate thier people.
    They are no more Islamic Extremists than the IRA bombers were Catholic Extremists or British Slavers were Christian Extemists. Killing innocent people is not practicing Islam. It’s the opposite” (by someone whose flickr name is africanfuturist)

  7. And this quote has been posted by Rezwan on his blog The 3rd world view – http://rezwanul.blogspot.com/ linking to this post on my blog –
    “There’s no reason to bring religion into it. I think we ought to have as great a regard for religion as we can, so as to keep it out of as many things as possible”
    – Sean O’Casey 1884-1964, Irish Dramatist

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