No fear...

In my own little demonstration of disgust at the outrage over this Middle Eastern Cartoon thing--not the Washington Post cartoon thing--I've decided to post the cartoons. No one should ever give into this. Also see Michelle here.

Here they are: (thanks to Rick)

Come and get me!

Chris

Comments

[elendil]

Hear hear! I was seriously contemplating doing the same thing on my own blog: bomb-turban Mohammed, a picture of "piss Christ", and the "Hollywood Buddha" poster would be sweet. Maybe I could throw in a "Happy Holidays", just in case anyone missed the point. It will be the first time I've detracted from the 'single-issue only' style, which has left me weighing it up and wondering if it would still be worth it.

[Holger]

Go to http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/freespeech1
to sign a petition supporting Denmark.

[elendil]

Holger-- done.

[jestplainol'bill]

ohhhhhh...woman, allah gonna git ye.

[David]

All this talking about the Middle East cartoon thing is outrageous. Here in Italy many newspapers decided to print these cartoons on there first pages. Freedom of speech is fundamental in the western democracies. The Arab world should understand that we live in 2006 and not in 1806...

[elendil]

... and about here's where I become a detractor. I'm vehemently opposed to these unfair attempts to stifle expression, whether it comes from Hamas killers, or disingenuous Joint Chiefs sending "we're very powerful and we're watching you, buddy" letters. But it also angers me that this issue close to my heart is a band-wagon for jerks who think it's a good opportunity to make some stereotypes about Arabs. The vast majority have responded fairly with their own non-violent expression of protest, as is their right. In much the same way that the vast majority of Christian protesters to Piss Christ (but unfortunately not all) didn't send death threats to Andres Serrano and the gallery owners. It's the few extremists that we're after, and I think we should remember that.

[anon]

Here is another way to piss off a Muslim. Tell him that Mohammed was conceived in an unnatural act between Satan and Mohammed's mother

You're pissed at the Joint Chiefs for standing up for their troops? They weren't calling for censorship. Did they lose their right to speak freely as American citizens because they now have one of the toughest jobs in the world?

WTF?

Less MSM, MORE military opinion, PLEASE.

[Nemo]

"It's the few extremists that we're after, and I think we should remember that".

You may have a good friend or colleague who's a muslim. One day he finds you in an angry argument with another person. Initially he aggrees with you completely and takes your side, but then the other person makes it clear to him that they are both muslims.
Do you think he now:
1. continues to be on your side?
2. tries to end the argument by saying we should all be friends?
3. leaves because he cannot go against a fellow muslim in support of an infidel?
My guess is "2", and definitely not "1".
It's a very strong bond they have.

[rrrkkkgggiiggllee]

I personnally think that islam is a dark and backward religion and hence muslim a conservative n narrow minded society without tolerance. they think they are best and superior but cant bear any criticism coz they r weak hearted. it will take 100 year before they will put some light in their concience.

[Carly Blue]

I am truly beginning to HATE islam based on the actions I have been seeing. I believe in freedom of religion but am having a hard time finding any respect for muslims anymore. how sad some have ruined this religion for so many, given so many a bad name. (and yes the crusades did the same thing for christianity).

[Ali]

What we muslims know is "That we believe in all prophets of Allah (God)including Jesus and we can't even think about such things about the prophets.

May! Allah show you the right path.

[fuck u]

fuck denmark

[Raoul]

Although I disagree with these cartoons being posted on the internet (though it was inevitable) I did wonder what all the fuss was about. Basically the cartoons are how I expected and the publishers must have known how much anger they would create and therefore should never have made them. I don't think they should be punished for doing this siince it is exercising freedom of speech, but I do think they were wrong to do it since freedom of speech doesn't mean that you should anger people for no reason.

The death threats that have been made are appaling, but it is only a small number of muslims. There are maybe a billion muslims and a couple make death threats. I know some muslims and although they believe the cartoons are a sin they also believe that the threats made are a much greater sin. Even if several million muslims are extremists then that is still a significantly smaller proportion than those who are retarded (or the proportion of any group that is retarded). People shouldn't judge the religion on the actions of a tiny minority (10 million would be 1% of muslims).

I have heard some people say that if these muslims don't agree with the extremists then they should speak out against the extremists. But I have also heard it said that muslims should drop the subject. They can't do both.

[Chris]

I think to be silent now--in the midst of all this violence--is to be complicit in it. Not just the cartoons but in the threats against America and Israel and the use of suicide bombers.

[Raj]

The cartoons do not say which is the character portrayed. It looks like a Islamic cleric. To live in this world it takes some sense of humor, ability to laugh at oneself. I liked especially the one about running out of virgins. Even God has his limits!!

[Pasha]

I am a Muslim. I can understand your anger. Its the same feeling that we got.

First things first. I do not agree with making cartoons of religious figures. I also do not agree with violence.

Now, you people need to understand a few things. Freedom of speeech is ok. That is fine. I will not go into the matter where somebody denying Nazi holocaust was sent to jail as I am not 100% sure about the authenticity. But, we all being humans, living on the same planet, having thousands of different faiths, we all need to understand and respect eachother's religions. What we all forget is, we are all creation of the same God. There is a misconception in the West particularly that what we call Allah is somebody different from the God in Christianity and Judaism. We believe in Moses, David, Jesus. We belive that Mohammad was also the Prophet of the same God. What we are angered about is, that West having the freedom of speech did not understand the basic human right of respect. We believe in Mohammad and believe in it strongly. Press and Media has a responsibility on their shoulders. They have to respect other people's religious believes. In the end we all have to live in the same world and return to the same God.

Now the otehr side of the story. Violence is not preached in Islam. The word "Islam" actually MEANS "Peace"! Islam is a religion of forgiveness. people involved in violence should not even be called Muslims. They give people like us and Islam a bad name. Please, do not call them Muslims, or it will be very unfair to people like us. Stop judging and generalizing your views.

If I was the leader of the Muslim World, I would have told the Danish Newspaper that you have been ignorant and irresponsible, but we forgive you for your ignorance and hope God will show you the right way.

I am sure if Mohammad was alive, he would have forgiven!

[darwin]

Pasha: "Now the otehr side of the story. Violence is not preached in Islam. The word "Islam" actually MEANS "Peace"! Islam is a religion of forgiveness. people involved in violence should not even be called Muslims."

People who commit violence should be called out for what they are whether they are muslim or not. Violence IS preached in Islam. The entirety of the history of Islam is steeped in violence ... and Islam is more correctly defined as meaning submission, not peace.

The west and Islam do not mix. On one hand, we have a civilization that cherishes the freedom of the individual, where inherent rights, such as the right to free speech are guarded jealously. On the other hand, we have a civilization that uses religion as a means to an end, and uses western laws to silence it's critics.

In western countries it is incumbent on muslims and Islam to respect the laws and traditions of the west, not the other way around. Unless Islam respects the laws of the west, the two should never meet.

And just in case you might have forgotten, it was the constant violence and death wrought by Islam that prompted the artist to render the cartoons to begin with.