Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 23:42:57 +0100
From: Carsten Agger <agger-AT-faklen.dk>
Subject: PKF: Humanist counteroffensive


Regarding our earlier discussions on humanism and relativism,
I send you the following account of a happening which was
part of the humanist counteroffensive of the Danish magazine
The Torch. More may be found about the happening at our
Web site,

    http://www.faklen.dk/en/the_torch/

the article is called "A Cry For Help".

A CRY FOR HELP

               On Christmas Eve, the traditional TV broadcasting of the
Christmas
               service progressed in a rather unexpected way when The Torch
               presented an alternative Christmas message on the air ...

               December 24, 1997 at 15.00 hours, the Danish television channel
DR1
               broadcast the Christmas service from Helligåndskirken (Church of
the Holy
               Ghost) in Aarhus. In a peaceful happening, seven women from The
Torch
               interrupted the transmission after some 10 minutes and Cecilia
Brynskov
               ascended the pulpit, taking the opportunity to sound the alert
against the
               intensified attacks against weak and outcast minorities
experienced in
               Danish society today.

               After some 30 seconds they were all brutally torn down by a
church official
               and a DR staff member, while others from The Torch who were
handing out
               pamphlets where the speech was reproduced were equally roughly
handled.

               The speech, which was interrupted about half-way through, is
reproduced
               here in full, translated to English.

               Dear fellow humans!

               Why are we sitting here?

               Why are we sitting here, when we all ought to be fighting for
Humanism?

               Why are we sitting here on the benches and behind the screens,
tending
               our pseudo-conscience - just because it's Christmas - while
understanding
               and hospitality is being destroyed by fat Danish abundance and
               self-sufficient egotism all year round?

               How long do we have to put up with this phony playing to the
gallery, all the
               empty words and clichés being preached by those in power about
»welfare«
               and »rights«, while tens of thousands of refugees, homeless and
other
               minorities are being persecuted and cast out?

               How long do we have to let the extreme right in the Danish
People's Party
               control the public debate and brand the weak as parasites and
the outcast
               as suspicious?

               How long do we have to let ourselves delude by the Prime
Minister's lies
               that Denmark is a country with equality before the law, that
Denmark
               respect the human rights and that Denmark is a humane pioneer?

               How long do we have to adopt an attitude to the fact that it is,
on the
               contrary, easily documented that Denmark is increasingly
characterized by
               totalitarian tendencies?

               We refuse to face it - but can we deny it? Haven't we seen it
all before - the
               racism, the swing to the right, the hysterical obsession with
Law and Order?
               And isn't it time to turn the tide?

               But the tide is not turned by the government doggedly following
the Danish
               People's Party and even having the impudence of keeping a couple
of boot
               step's distance - nor can extreme racism be combated by a less
extreme
               racism, but only by antiracism - only with a humanist
counteroffensive!

               Let us sacrifice abundance and let the outcast and the weak be
in the front
               rank - not only during the Christmas orations but every day, all
year, every
               year!

               Let us put our foot down, and let's put it down hard - against
the swing to the
               right and for that very helpfulness, hospitality and kindness
that turns fellow
               human beings into fellow human beings.

               Dear fellow human beings: carry on the torch of humanism - that
is the
               good news of Christmas time!


    Hope you enjoyed the speech,
        Carsten

PS: Thanx for your excellent discussion of my essay, Alex! I'll get back to it
if/when I find the time. I don't think I agree that autopoiesis is an attempt
to
return to vitalism, though - but let's take that later!

--
agger-AT-faklen.dk      The Torch Magazine: http://www.faklen.dk/en
Erwin Neutzsky-Wulff:   http://imv.aau.dk/~brynskov/enw/enw_eng.html
Die la que si bon ordonnin nous vengeance (Boukman Dutty, 1791)
Miembro de la Biblioteca Circular: http://www.encomix.es/~espada/circulo.html


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