Posted on 02/06/2006 3:56:26 PM PST by Dark Skies
We're witnessing a tectonic clash of civilizations -- over a simple line drawing. And it is now clear to me, in a way that it never was before, that Islamists truly do hate our freedoms, our way of life.
I have no doubt that the cartoonish depictions of the prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper are blasphemous to millions of believers worldwide. But, hell, so is the Rolling Stone cover depicting Kanye West as Christ in his crown of thorns.
Just like fatwa against Salman Rushsdie, the violence spawned by these Danish illustrations is unjustifiable in the civilized world, and must not be appeased -- least of all by the Bush State Department, which weighed in over the weekend opining that, "inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable."
I would be defending these cartoons even if they were simply noxious hate speech. But they're far from that. As I understand it, they accompanied an article about a woman who couldn't convince any illustrator to work on a children's book about Mohammed -- because the artists all feared violent retribution.
There's no small irony in the fact that the cartoonist's critique of unhinged Islamist violence (most pointedly, a drawing of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban) has inspired unhinged Islamist violence.
This is the dilemma we face: Politically and economically, the modern world has left much of the Muslim society behind. The only lever of power that impotent Islamists and Islamist nations now have to make the West take them seriously is violence. By kowtowing to this violence, we only reinforce its power and guarantee its spread.
Westerners ought to learn how to respect Muslim traditions and not needlessly anger the faithful. And if there is any upside to this embarrassing episode its that millions of non-Muslims worldwide may come to know more about what the Islamic religion holds sacred.
But the right to profane is fundamental to the freedom of the world. Andrew Sullivan is exactly right: Freedom of speech is "nonnegotiable". We should no sooner appease the angry throngs who burn embassies in Damascus than we would enter into a "truce" with bin Laden.
Apparently even stoners can figure out that we are at the Rubicon.
I beg your pardon?
IIRC, it was Christopher Hitchens who said that - or something very similar. Maybe they both said it. A correct sentiment, whoever said it.
May Moshiach come quickly in our time and sort it all out.
I couldn't figure that statement out either. It seems completely inconsistent with the rest. Do you think I should have tossed the baby out with the bath water? Or should we revel in this strange twist from the twilight zone?
Kind of hard to do when an "infidel" drawing breath is enough to send the "faithful" into a homicidal rampage.
Feb. 06 (CWNews.com)
- A Catholic priest was shot and killed in Trabzon, Turkey, on Sunday, and authorities there are investigating whether the murder was related to Islamic anger over cartoons published in European newspapers.
Father Andrea Santoro, an Italian missionary priest who had served in Turkey for 10 years, was shot twice at point-blank range in his church in the port town on the Black Sea. The gunman shouted, "Allah is great!" before running out of the church.
Bishop Luigi Padovese of Anatolia, who rushed to the scene on hearing of the priest's death, told the AsiaNews service that the timing of the killing-- as Muslim militants around the world protest the cartoons mocking Islam-- "does not seem incidental to me." The bishop reported that the atmosphere in Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, "is heated, not to say overheated." Christian churches were under heavy security in the aftermath of the killing.
Government investigators are also considering the possibilities that the assassin was a lone fanatic or that he was connected with the thriving prostitution business in Trabzon. Father Santoro had helped many young woman escape from lives of prostitution.
AsiaNews reported that the killer's face was apparently recorded by a videocamera at a jewelry store adjacent to the church.
Pope Benedict XVI praised the slain priest for his work "in service of those marginalized and in need" in Turkey. He expressed his hope that "his blood shed may be a seed of hope for the building of authentic fraternity among people." The Pope's condolences were expressed in messages to Bishop Padovese and to Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the vicar of Father Santoro's home diocese in Rome.
RIP Father Santoro
I still think it's odd that artistic freedom is more important to these leftists than the spectacle of terrorists blowing up innocent women and children. But if that's what it takes. . . .
It seems to me that the Muslims have miscalculated on this one. It may end up being more of a wake up call to the west than the destruction of the World Trade Towers.
No it doesn't.
It is completely consistent with what they are doing.
Occam's Razor.
It's a typical leftist last pang of wishful thinking amid an unusual moment of moral clarity. They still think being solicitous will help, even as they finally have to confront a glaringly obvious, implacable, and insatiable threat to their way of life. One by one, these myths will fall. Just give it time and I'm certain the Islamists will find a way to convince even these idiots. Until then, they're begging for a chance to go back to dreamland.
Amazing isn't it. I am an artist who spent his first life as an investment banker on Wall St. 9/11 made an indelible mark on me and I am living proof that not all artists are liberal.
I never thought I would see lefties getting their dander up re: islam...but it is starting.
Who do we blame when people are 'needlessly angered' over made up stories about flushing a koran down the toilet?
The orcastrators of all this aren't making something out of nothing, just exploiting what already exists.
Hey.. when major newspapers have their own 'conspiracies' section, like we have 'life' and 'money'... you know its ripe for all kinds of immature backward games.
Our only hope is the tenants democracy (not just voting) spreads sooner, rather than later in the middle east.
Forgive me for being dense...but I still don't get your point. How does the "razor" figure in here?
G-d bless your optimism...but I am one of those idiots who doubt that democracy is the antidote to islam.
God bless Bush and Condi (is cute)...but they don't understand islam IMHO. Giving democracy to islam is like giving democracy to a planet of vampires.
If any one of us last year had ventured the idea that cartoons would be the turning point...!
They'll only get away with it if we let them!
ping
Democracy, in this situation, will not help us. You're 100% correct.
They'll just vote in more crazed people than the dictators they already have.
Occam's Razor
Occam's Razor (also spelled Ockham's Razor) is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham. It forms the basis of methodological reductionism, and is also called the principle of parsimony or law of economy.
In its simplest form, Occam's Razor states that one should make no more assumptions than needed. Put into everyday language, it says
Numquam ponenda est pluritas sine necessitate. [Latin]
which translates to:
Multiples should never be used if not necessary.
or
"Shave off" (omit) unnecessary entities in explanations.
But the more commonly used translations are:
Given two equally predictive theories, choose the simpler, and The simplest answer is usually the correct answer.
;-)
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