Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Nazareth Baptist Church Spokesperson Says Brett Murray "Deserves To Be Stoned To Death"

Enoch Mthembu, spokesman for the Nazareth Baptist Church (Shembe church) said:
"This man has insulted the entire nation and he deserves to be stoned to death.

"What he did clearly shows his racist upbringing because art does not allow people to insult others.
"This is an attack on the culture of the majority, the black people of South Africa. With our culture we are allowed to marry many women. And white people must understand that and tolerate our culture as we do theirs. We are not like some of them who prefer prostitutes as they regard women as sex objects ... " 
*****
Comment: Now just in case the comrades are still a little fuzzy on what free speech entails/means the above quotation as reported in TimesLive (May 22) is not free speech.

It is, in fact, hate speech and can be deemed to be a threat against the life of Brett Murray.

Arrest this bigot is my thinking: he has broken the law.

Onward

2 comments:

Wes said...

We can argue all day as to whether the painting was an example of freedom of expression or not, but it is a FACT that the comments made by Enoch Mthembu constitutes Hate Speech. The painting was also not definitely an attack on the culture of the Black majority. Its a comment on the poor example Zuma sets for all South African's, in a position of power, through his many Sexual Escapades. Which is particularly poor in a country that has one of the highest recorded HIV/AIDS infection rates in the world.

Ridwan said...

Thank you for your comment Wes.

I absolutely agree with you. It has been interesting to see the Shembe Church distance themselves from Mthembu yet he remains adamant that he is right and drawing on biblical passages.

The Johannesburg High Court disagrees thankfully.

Peace to you,
ridwan