OT: Muhammed-caricatyres and freedom of speach

[El_Phil]

The cartoons themselves aren't actually very good or particularly clever or subtle. Printing them wasn't big or clever as it was going to cause trouble while not really making any worthwhile point.

However once someone decided to publish it I have to give much credit to the Danish government for backing them up.

Good work Denmark, keep it up.

[Intimidator]

El_Phil said:
The cartoons themselves aren't actually very good or particularly clever or subtle. Printing them wasn't big or clever as it was going to cause trouble while not really making any worthwhile point.

However once someone decided to publish it I have to give much credit to the Danish government for backing them up.

Good work Denmark, keep it up.

I agree , the pictures weren't worth the trouble, but again The paper can (thank you democracy and freedom of press) publish them if the want to.........

Indeed it's great work from the Danish Government but also a great job from dozens of European news papers to back their fellow paper and also publish the drawings.

But again , it's a lot of trouble about absolutly NOTHING

[Jack Simth]

From my perspective:
The originals weren't worth the ink to print them nor the trouble caused, and the person who decided they were probably ought to be put in charge of something less important, if not out and out fired.
The reprints made specifically to reinforce freedom of the press, were more than worth the ink to print them, more than worth the trouble caused, and those who decided they should be reprinted on that basis probably ought to be praised.
Why?
Well, I consider it important the the press be capable of printing pretty much anything they deem worthy, and although hateful and hurtful things probably ought not be said, I consider it more important that the press not be limited on what they may say in an opinion manner than that they not say hateful or hurtful things.
Does that make sense?

[Randallw]

Ruatha, are you sure about Fatah setting the whole thing up?. If so I can't say they have much of an argument if they are willing to use it to their own advantage.

I believe the whole thing is related to the lack of education in Muslim countries. Because Muslim countries, in part because of Islamic restriction, aren't what you might call centres of intellectualism, the common person is all too willing to lash out violently rather than consider things. Also because of the large gulf between the west and Muslim countries they feel resentment. If they are Muslims (which is arabic for believers in Allah) how is it the West is so much more powerful. As a result they have, if I may put it in such words, a persecution complex. As a result they resort to their religious arguments to call for the destruction of the west, the power and wealth of which they covet. Islam was once a center of science and mathematics, after all they invented the zero and we use arabic numerals, so where did it all go wrong. It's a result of the Mongols. When they swept into the middle east and eastern europe they practically wiped out those cultures resident there. As a result all the learning centers and intellectuals of the Islamic world were destroyed. This pretty much shattered Islamic culture and they haven't recovered since. This also in part explains why Eastern Europe is such a backwater relative to the west, although of course communism is also a major reason. Western Europe, which was saved, continued to develop, explaining in part its dominance.

[Randallw]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=85446

interesting article. I do believe there is truth in that Muslims are all for being about voicing their hatreds but get angry(er) when someone does it to them. One last thing I'd like to point out. That whole thing about getting virgins in heaven if you are a martyr, true or not, the belief in it would appear to ring false any idea that some Muslims are for womens rights. Plus my opinion of, if it was possible, terrorists is lower if they are a bunch of sexed obsessed idiots who just want to go to heaven and deflower virginal women.

[Azselendor]

"Muslim" I believe actually means "They (or he) who is surrendered to Allah". I might be mistaking for "Islam" however. Never the less, It's not education that is at fault, but fear. The muslim reaction to the cartoon is much like the recent "War on Christmas" fox news and the christian coalition spent millions on or Mike Newdow's lawsuit on the pledge of allegiance.

People simply fear what they don't understand, control, or have. That fear leads to anger and hatred of that and, as a result, they violent lash out at it without logic or reason.

Education and knowledge undoes that - but only if they are willing to grow beyond it.

[dogscoff]

That whole thing about getting virgins in heaven if you are a martyr, true or not, the belief in it would appear to ring false any idea that some Muslims are for womens rights.

Dude, i don't think you condemn the whole faith of Islam as mysoginists because of some bull**** story made up to con a few gullible zealots into committing suicide. Your average muslim (especially those living in Western counries) is going to reject that interpretation of the scripture just as quickly as they reject all the other hate-mongering interpretations that have led to death and destruction.

I mean if you base your personal philosophy on a book that was written centuries ago (and this applies just as much to Christians, jews and many other faiths) then you must either learn that some bits of the book just don't apply any more or learn not to take everything literally, or you will end up a medieval anachranism in the 21st century.

I mean if you lived by every literal word of the bible, for instance, you'd be sacrificing bulls to God and stoning your rebellious teenager kids to death...