News-Record.com

Yeah, they couldn't just get ticked off and boycott things, like Christians do when they get religiously offended. No, they have to shout and shoot and kill in order to defend their prophet, all while chanting "Peace be upon him"! Bloody nuts.

I am just amazed art, albeit minor, still ahs the power to ennervate people. You'd think it was 1914 again.

A piece from one of the out of country newpapers that I read. Can't remember off hand if it was from the London paper or one of the Australian papers. Good article on this subject anyhow. And I must say that I agree with the writer as to how this situation should have been handled.

Clash of cultures
Democracies must not give way on freedom of speech

IF any evidence was needed of the dangerous frailty of the relationship between Islam and the West, the explosive reaction to a Danish newspaper publishing cartoons depicting Mohammed provides it. In a culture clash reminiscent of the fatwa Iran issued over the novel The Satanic Verses that led to author Salman Rushdie going into hiding for years, Danish daily Jyllands-Posten's publication of the 12 cartoons has provoked trade boycotts across the Arab world, diplomatic protests, flag burnings and a rampage by militant Muslims in Jakarta. In Gaza, masked gunmen swarmed EU offices and threats were issued to foreigners from the growing list of European countries where the cartoons have been published.

At the heart of the clash, as with the Rushdie case, is the robust and open nature of intellectual discourse that characterises freedom of speech in liberal democracies. Muslims consider images of the prophet distasteful, and caricatures blasphemous. The cartoons at issue include one showing Mohammed wearing a bomb in place of a turban and another showing him calling for a slowing in suicide bombings because of a shortage of celestial virgins. The clash escalated this week after newspapers across Europe reprinted the cartoons and the BBC aired them in a show of strength for freedom of speech. They have every right to do so. Some Muslims might find the depictions offensive, but the right to offend within the law is fundamental to free speech.

As much as the cartoons themselves, the spiralling conflict is the perhaps inevitable result of increasing tensions in Europe as secular societies struggle to accept a rising population of Muslims whose customs and values often chafe against their own. That a minority of Muslims are prepared to resort to violence in protest at Europeans exercising their freedom of speech is an issue the West must tackle head on. Jyllands-Posten's editor this week apologised for publishing the cartoons. He shouldn't have. Liberal democracies must not give way to bullying when it comes to core values.

Without a doubt the behavior of the rioters will come back to haunt them. Though American Muslims may not be pleased with the charicatures they have the most to lose if, once again, this country suffers another version of 9/11.
Should we have no more cartoons of this ilk? that is for each society to decide and not by burning and looting.

Of course this all goes back centuries. It has now become not so much a religious conflict between true Christianity and Islam as a conflict between a fanatical Islamic movement and the irreverent secular West, which is seen as a threatening power block, an intrusive influence that threatens their basic religious convictions and way of life – thus their fanatical and explosive reactions. It is their way (perhaps only way at present – until Iran gets the bomb) of cowering and controlling a militarily powerful Western world. I wish I could say it was a clash of religions, but Christianity is not viable enough in the West at this time to justify such a claim.

Only when we as a genuinely Christian culture can reach out to Islamic anger in the power of grace and truth (as well as military, if survival requires it) can we provide a real answer to their anger and fanaticism. Although I have serious issues with Islamic beliefs, at least they care about their religious values. By comparison, American Christians often seem apathetic. But I believe that is changing. My hope is that Christian concern will be expressed by the best elements in the Christian community, not by the emotion-driven, fuzzy-headed types that fill too much of the media.

On this day and age it still leaves me in awe at the fact that there are still narrow minded parts of this world. I have yet to see any sense of satire aimed at the muslim community or their beliefs yet I see depictions of Jesus in humurous manners on national telivion and see Buddah being mocked on cartoons, even scientologist have been the center of jokes and remarks but the islam has been left of the radar for obvious reasons. It still isn't clear how they like to present themselves as peacful people but still resort to violence just over some satire about their religous beliefs, they should just get in line with all the conservatives who scoff at the mention of jesus in a public school. Its all just literature meant to amuse the crowd that finds it intresting and just like other forms of work, it can be ignored and dismissed as another ignorant publication of the ignorant west. Some may say that these protest and voilence being led by these islamic extremist is going to lead to a mayor conflict and if Iran goes through with manufacturing an atomic bomb then we need to act fast and be assertive with our actions. That means the west needs to take all means necessary to bring the islamic uprising to a halt and assert the power of a democratic society instead of a terrorist plagued religion which describes itself as peacful and loving. Actions do speak louder than words and their actions are far from peace. Still on the other hand, the best solutions are the conflict free peace negotiations that might help lead the way for a quiet resolution to this matter. The democratic west cannot be forced, threatened/or bullied if you will to halt all publications of cartoons that islam might find offensive because if so then the United States needs to outlaw the KKK for all its racist veiws. One thing that i know won't go well with the free speech advocates.