First Amendment freedoms include the right to criticize Islam and Muhammad
Posted on 11/08/2004 11:18:53 AM PST by Agitate
Found this via Little Green Footballs. Muslims are trying to stop the release of the book Prophet of Doom by Craig Winn, which dares to criticize Islam.
Whiney Islamists apparently don't realize they are in America, not Saudi Arabia. If I had a dime for every anti-Semitic and anti-Christian book sold in America, I could buy George Soros. Bookstores routinely sell The Case Against Christianity by Michael Martin, The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy by C. Dennis Dennis McKinsey, and MANY more such titles, why shouldn't it sell this? Free speech is for everyone, and it may not always be the speech you like.
The petition to censor this book already has over 40,000 signatures. Please sign this counter petition and contact the book stores about yet another attempt by Muslims for special treatment and protection from critics.
| |
| First Amendment freedoms include the right to criticize Islam and Muhammad |
To: All BookstoresWe the undersigned are shocked and appalled by recent Muslim attempts to stifle circulation of Craig Winn's "Prophet of Doom," by demanding that bookstores stop carrying it and that its publication cease, via the petition "Stop Hatred and Misinformation about the Best of Creation."
As firm supporters of First Amendment freedoms, we demand that authors critical of Islam (or any other religion) be given full First Amendment protection.
Insofar as the United States of America is founded on a separation of church and state, the charge of blasphemy is utterly inapplicable in US courts. Moreover, Muslims must realize that their religion, however dear it may be to them or however many followers adhere to it, is in no way exempt from being subjected to rationalist critique, as has been the case for centuries with the other major religions.
We are reminded of a number of controversial attempts by Christians to stifle availability of “blasphemous materials,” including: the painting “Piss Christ” by Andres Serrano and “The Last Temptation of Christ” by Martin Scorsese. In both cases, despite the fact that millions of devout Christians felt their sensibilities deeply offended, the artists were nonetheless fully within their rights to circulate their works. Craig Winn equally is within his rights by publishing and distributing his book, and Muslims must realize that.
Given efforts by Muslims around the world to stifle criticism of their religion, in many cases through the use of violence (the most famous example of which being the Salman Rushdie affair), we consider the Muslim petition demanding censorship to be little more than a scare tactic to intimidate the author from publishing his book. Whether we agree with the content of the author’s book is irrelevant; the simple fact that Muslims are trying to intimidate him from exercising his First Amendment freedoms urges us to demand that bookstores continue circulating this book as they please. Particularly in response to the recent murder of Theo van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker critical of the mistreatment of Muslim women, we feel it necessary that all supporters of free expression take a stand against Islamist scare tactics. Thus, we demand that all bookstores ignore such scare tactics and make Mr. Winn’s book readily available, in accordance with customer demand.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
The First Amendment freedoms include the right to criticize Islam and Muhammad Petition to All Bookstores was created by and written by Muhammad Malik (muhammad_malik2004@yahoo.com). This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.
Send this to a friend
|
PetitionOnline - DesignCommunity - ArchitectureWeek - Great Buildings - Search
|
|
| http://www.PetitionOnline.com/islam999/petition.html |
© 1999-2004 Artifice, Inc. - All Rights Reserved. |
This turn of events IMHO didn't come by accident but by providence.
Bump^ good post.
Muck Radical Fuslims! Oh Mcdonald was dyslexic eioie, sshhheesshh, me too I guess.
All should remember: Islam is a religion of pieces.
With the P C crowd at Barnes & Noble, I guess I will have to look elsewhere to buy the book.
Great site! Mr.Winn should be supported to the fullest extent possible.
Take care,
BC
BTTT
Go to the last 5 siganture pages of the pro-censorship site for a good laugh...
http://www.petitiononline.com/iecrc786/petition.html
Many freepers support censorship. It's just a matter of who's OX is being gored.
LOL..I read it. Long live Freedom of Speech. God Bless America.
I agree with you. Maybe thats why they hate the book prophet of doom. Heres to freedom of speech. God Bless America
I am not signing no petition.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.