Martin Selmayr, the spokesman of the European Commission, has defended the EU's use of a compilation of sex scenes from European movies as a promotion tool on YouTube. The video is getting thousands of hits a day, and has drawn protests from some MEPs, including members of Britain's Conservative Party, and the League of Polish Families.
Selmayr described the criticism as "quasi-religious bashing of the very important cultural diversity we have in the European Union," and added that "the European Union is not a Bible belt, we believe in freedom of expression and artistic creativity" (BBC).
What Selmayr seems to forget is the EU's much-vaunted diversity. He should remember that he represents an organisation that does include some pretty religious member-states (Poland is but one example). So, while the EU may not be "a Bible belt", it does contain its own Bible belts and mini-Bible belts (in Greece, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, but also in the more secular member-states). This video, while being a great gimmick for attracting viewers to the EU's YouTube channel, does a poor job of representing the views of the more religious or conservative citizens of the Union.
2 comments:
You are right in your judgementes with regards to the religious diversity of the EU.
However, for me, as european, this does represents my values, and probably those of the vast majority of european internet users, certainly less ortodox than those of TV and traditional radio channels.
And I love to see the EU to walk in one direction, rather than stuck because of the ongoing eternal debates
Thanks for your comment, Nillo!
I think what I would have liked to see (admittedly as a non-EU citizen) is for the European Commission spokesman to have acknowledged the fact that many in the EU would find the compilation of sex clips offensive, and on legitimate grounds of personal belief.
I don't mind the EU taking decisions that appeal to a majority of the people of the 27 member-states, but I do think that the views of minorities should be respected (even when the EU disagrees with them), rather than dismissed, as happened in this case.
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