I don't get the whole cartoon of the Prophet furor. Why should Muslims "be able to take a joke" and accept the non-Muslim world's definition of good taste? Would the same newspapers print a cartoon showing Jesus taking it up the ass or a woman being raped? No? Too offensive? Well, that's my point.
The very fact that so many newspapers printed these cartoons--knowing they were considered blasphemous--demonstrated a disrespect so basic and fundamental that it makes me wonder why we (the so-called free world) can't figure out why Muslims think they need to fight us. The very fact that so many newspapers printed these cartoons--knowing the violent reaction that would follow--was so irresponsible that it makes me question my choice of professions.
Here's another one for you: Why was Newsweek battered into an apology for its report that US soldiers desecrated the Koran (despite a strong whiff of truth to the story, it didn't meet the legal or even journalistic standards of proof) while all the newspapers who printed the cartoon are being defended as liberal muckrakers? The violent results were the same.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
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Would the same newspapers print a cartoon showing Jesus taking it up the ass or a woman being raped?
The Jylland Posten showed no such cartoons. The original cartoon were on the subject of terrorists (ab)using Islam as a justification. The cartoons you are refverring to were later alleged to be printed by the Jylland Posten in order to push some agenda.
The very fact that so many newspapers printed these cartoons
Actually, rather few did.
knowing they were considered blasphemous
See, that's my issue. I believe in freedom of religion. That means I get to choose which religion I follow in and accordingly, which rules I submit to. Under the principle of freedom of religion, that also means that I cannot be made to submit to the rules of another religion - otherwise, I would effectively be pressured into following that religion (even if I did not believe).
To take up your example from the beginning: I may perhaps be offended by a painting of Jesus taking it in the butt, but I would defend the right of a muslim (or any non-christian) to draw that picture. That my religion forbids these kinds of drawings must not matter to anybody not following my religion, or we can just scratch the entire idea of freedom of religion.
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