'Honour killings' speech prompts boycott of Festival of Dangerous Ideas
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/honour-killings-speech-prompts-boycott-of-festival-of-dangerous-ideas-20140624-zsk03.html
Uthman Badar, a Sydney-based Muslim speaker, writer and activist, will deliver a presentation titled "Honour killings are morally justified" and argue that such acts are seized on by Westerners as a symbol of everything they dislike about another culture.
The announcement sparked condemnation on social media from those arguing the Opera House stage should not be used as a platform for such radical and confronting propositions.
Mr Hind said that while Mr Badar has every right to make the speech, "as a free society we have every right to boycott organisations and companies - like the Festival of Dangerous Ideas - that seek to make money from or generate publicity by promoting ideas and speech that we find objectionable or hateful".
Eleanor Gordon-Smith, a writer and ethics student, previously organised a series of talks at the University of Sydney designed to challenge orthodox ideas. She said the inclusion of Mr Badar's presentation looks like a marketing stunt to shock people and prove the festival can live up to its ''dangerous'' title.
"I think it's free speech and outrage for its own sake, not for the sake of seeking truth," Ms Gordon-Smith said. "If it's not hate speech, it's seriously ignorant speech."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/honour-killings-speech-prompts-boycott-of-festival-of-dangerous-ideas-20140624-zsk03.html#ixzz35YtYduzI
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