No one censored her. Her opinions go against what the Olympic movement stands for and expect the participants in their games to stand for. What she did and said violated the Olympic values, so the Greek committee banned her.
That's one thing to whine about individual rights, but there's no fundamental right to participate in the Olympics. The event and its organizers stand for certain basic values and they promote them (and to make it clear, those values don't exactly include xenophobia and racism). They're perfectly within their right to ask of those wishing to participate to their event to adhere to those values and rules or else abstain competing in olympic events. It's not like athletes don't know what the Olynpic movement stands for and ask them to stand for.
Freedom of expression doesn't extend to facing no consequence whatsoever for the opinions you expressed and how you did it. One might well have the right to publish articles demeaning, say, to feminist groups, but you just don't go complaining if one of them one day invoke this to refuse you a job. Try getting a job with a catholic organization if you're publicly a pro- aborption militant. One might have the right to express xenophobic views, but that person shouldn't expect an international organization that officially promote the opposite values to welcome her at one of their events with open arms... or that Greece where there's a highly xenophobic party that attracted a lot of bad international attention last spring would be too keen to risk an international scandal by letting a woman who makes xenophic jokes on Twitter represent her.
That's one thing to whine about individual rights, but there's no fundamental right to participate in the Olympics. The event and its organizers stand for certain basic values and they promote them (and to make it clear, those values don't exactly include xenophobia and racism). They're perfectly within their right to ask of those wishing to participate to their event to adhere to those values and rules or else abstain competing in olympic events. It's not like athletes don't know what the Olynpic movement stands for and ask them to stand for.
Freedom of expression doesn't extend to facing no consequence whatsoever for the opinions you expressed and how you did it. One might well have the right to publish articles demeaning, say, to feminist groups, but you just don't go complaining if one of them one day invoke this to refuse you a job. Try getting a job with a catholic organization if you're publicly a pro- aborption militant. One might have the right to express xenophobic views, but that person shouldn't expect an international organization that officially promote the opposite values to welcome her at one of their events with open arms... or that Greece where there's a highly xenophobic party that attracted a lot of bad international attention last spring would be too keen to risk an international scandal by letting a woman who makes xenophic jokes on Twitter represent her.
Am I the only one who thinks Voula Papachristou should not have been kicked out of the Olympics?
25/07/2012 10:55:19 PM
- 1206 Views
Being on a country's Olympic team is a privilege, not a right
25/07/2012 11:00:24 PM
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So banning blacks would be cool if it was legal in that country?
25/07/2012 11:08:52 PM
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The IOC can ban nations from participating for that sort of stunt.
25/07/2012 11:33:23 PM
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If Hitler could let Jesse Owens run...
25/07/2012 11:07:19 PM
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Yes. Political power should not be used to enforce morals.
25/07/2012 11:53:19 PM
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The national Olympic Committees aren't the government.
26/07/2012 12:02:43 AM
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Even worse.
26/07/2012 12:08:05 AM
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Erm
26/07/2012 12:29:32 AM
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I fail to see how the whole team would be thrown out.
26/07/2012 12:41:16 AM
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Because the IOC throws them out if the national government interferes in the national committe. *NM*
26/07/2012 12:43:39 AM
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Africans != illegals
25/07/2012 11:19:32 PM
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Specious reasoning.
26/07/2012 12:07:08 AM
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Who are you to decide that?
26/07/2012 12:16:45 AM
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I'm not the one deciding.
26/07/2012 12:36:17 AM
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You stated it as a fact.
26/07/2012 07:49:58 PM
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Well, it is a fact that a north African could never become ethnically Greek.
29/07/2012 03:27:50 AM
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I think any organisation should have the right to choose who represents them
25/07/2012 11:20:36 PM
- 711 Views
Well, but that's not the end of it.
26/07/2012 12:12:09 AM
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It is for me
26/07/2012 12:26:25 AM
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So...conformity ahead? *NM*
26/07/2012 12:40:03 AM
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Athletes taking responsibility for their own actions, if that is what you mean.
26/07/2012 12:44:56 AM
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Is that all that happened?
25/07/2012 11:28:17 PM
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For me it is more than enough
26/07/2012 12:32:35 AM
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I thought the original ideals of the Olympics were to honor Zeus. *NM*
26/07/2012 12:38:32 AM
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I view the long dead Greek Olympics as seperate, despite the shared name, from the modern Olympics *NM*
26/07/2012 12:42:18 AM
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Difficult question - if you ask me, the key point is a question of authority.
25/07/2012 11:40:39 PM
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Well it seems a bit of an over-reaction, and I doubt the purity of motives of those doing it, but...
26/07/2012 01:49:35 AM
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Re: Am I the only one who thinks Voula Papachristou should not have been kicked out of the Olympics?
26/07/2012 11:14:39 AM
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I'm going to boycott by turning off the Olympics and watching Michelle Jenneke nonstop instead. *NM*
26/07/2012 09:02:59 PM
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I oppose censorship even if it is not comng from the government
26/07/2012 10:16:30 PM
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How is it censorship?
27/07/2012 02:33:30 AM
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try looking up the word censorship and ask yourself would their actions supress speech
27/07/2012 02:59:11 AM
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I know the definition thank you. How exactly was her communication suppressed?
27/07/2012 05:54:39 PM
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you are right public punishment of political expression could never been seen as suppression
27/07/2012 06:20:15 PM
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Well
27/07/2012 07:20:27 PM
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Where did she ever imply she wanted them to be bitten? *NM*
27/07/2012 08:03:05 PM
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Hello earth.... "food from home".
27/07/2012 08:26:15 PM
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OK I repeat my question: Where did she she WANTED them to be bit?
30/07/2012 09:07:01 PM
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Um, she referred to them as food?
27/07/2012 08:38:22 PM
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No what is silly is inferring that she hoped they would be bitten *NM*
30/07/2012 09:09:18 PM
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No what is silly is inferring that she hoped they would be bitten *NM*
30/07/2012 09:09:27 PM
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I'm with you on this - I don't think she wanted them to be bitten.
27/07/2012 09:02:05 PM
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Re: I'm with you on this - I don't think she wanted them to be bitten.
27/07/2012 09:32:56 PM
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Do you have to go to special schools to learn how to read that much into dumb jokes?
30/07/2012 09:57:21 PM
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Re: you are right public punishment of political expression could never been seen as suppression
27/07/2012 08:30:26 PM
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One problem.
27/07/2012 04:54:52 AM
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Exactly
27/07/2012 12:05:14 PM
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where do you people get these backasswards idea of what censorship is? PCmart?
27/07/2012 02:01:29 PM
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We can have this conversation w/o you being mean.
27/07/2012 02:57:02 PM
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I never claimed I was against repercussions and people here are denying it is censorship
27/07/2012 04:18:54 PM
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Re: I never claimed I was against repercussions and people here are denying it is censorship
27/07/2012 05:01:37 PM
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Re: I never claimed I was against repercussions and people here are denying it is censorship
27/07/2012 06:23:17 PM
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sorry I forgot the Olympic spirit was about banning athletes for dumb jokes they apologized for
27/07/2012 08:30:08 PM
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You're really not going to make sense of this if you keep mashing everything together.
27/07/2012 08:59:35 PM
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Re: You're really not going to make sense of this if you keep mashing everything together.
27/07/2012 09:18:08 PM
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I know who did the banning but the whole organization seems to infested with a certain flavor of PC
30/07/2012 10:11:26 PM
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Re: sorry I forgot the Olympic spirit was about banning athletes for dumb jokes they apologized for
27/07/2012 09:01:07 PM
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I know you said it but do you actually believe it?
27/07/2012 01:56:35 PM
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It's a good question, but yes, I do.
27/07/2012 02:42:28 PM
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Are going to ban everyone and everyone country who says something about anyone else?
27/07/2012 04:47:51 PM
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i have a feeling you are being influenced by that pic they run with all the articles about her?
27/07/2012 02:14:13 PM
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Surely you don't think...
27/07/2012 02:57:47 PM
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I can honestly say I would not care as much if she were a man and/or ugly
29/07/2012 03:29:47 AM
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And now the next incident... this time about an athlete's partner, not the athlete herself.
03/08/2012 09:47:27 PM
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