Posted on 08/31/2007 5:59:09 AM PDT by IrishMike
Marking the beginning of yet another dispute over free speech and religious sensitivity, the government of Pakistan has joined Iran in protesting the publication in a Swedish newspaper of a sketch featuring the head of Mohammed on the body of a dog.
"Pakistan condemns, in the strongest terms, the publication of an offensive and blasphemous sketch of the Holy Prophet in the Swedish newspaper," the foreign ministry in Islamabad said in a statement Thursday.
A Swedish diplomat was summoned to the ministry and "was told that the publication of the sketch had caused grave affront to the religious sentiments of Muslims," it said.
"Regrettably, the tendency among some Europeans to mix the freedom of expression with an outright and deliberate insult to 1.3 billion Muslims in the world is on the rise," the statement said.
A Swedish foreign ministry spokeswoman told Sweden's English-language The Local that the diplomat had apologized for any hurt feelings the publication may have caused.
The government in Stockholm has distanced itself from the decision by a regional newspaper, Nerikes Allehanda, to publish the picture on August 18. The sketch, by artist Lars Vilks, was used to illustrate an editorial on freedom of expression.
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A few months after a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, in September 2005 published a dozen caricatures of Mohammed, simmering anger among Muslims erupted.
The cartoons, later reproduced in other European newspapers, triggered death threats, diplomatic strains, a Mideast boycott of Danish products, and protests -- some of them deadly -- in a number of Islamic countries.
The ripple effects of the episode are still being felt, with the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), a 57-member bloc of Islamic states, working to have international institutions outlaw the "defamation of prophets" and combat "Islamophobia."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
Bears an uncanny resemblance to most of his murderous minions, too.
I agree. true prophets should be revered, but that doesn’t extend to pedofiles, buggerers of boys, or any pervert with a harem greater than one.
HA!!!!!
I wasn't comparing the beliefs of the two religions. I don't know why you brought it up. I was comparing the reactions of blasphemy by people, Christians and Muslims.
I DO think that saying "some wee-wee in a jar just isnt important" tells me exactly where you stand as a Christian. Allowing others to mock and humiliate Christ IN OUR OWN COUNTRY is acceptable to you. It's "not important."
Okay, you are entitled to be the kind of Christian you want to be.
I wasn't ASKING for anything. It was wishful thinking. Wishes aren't requests. I don't think it's an awful wish to wish for more backbone regarding our reaction to Christ haters. Is that SUCH a drastic thing to wish for? I don't think so.
The Christ-haters, by the way, AREN'T Muslims. Issa is Jesus in Arabic, Dawood is David, Musa is Moses, Maryam is Mary, Yusef is Joseph, Ibrahim is Abraham, etc. These are Biblical, respected names. People name their Muslim children those names, sometimes. It's not so uncommon.
The Christ-haters, in my opinion, are American athiests, leftists, secularists, communists perhaps and former Christians. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc., seem to have INFINITELY more respect for Jesus than do our own home-grown Christ-haters. For me, the home-grown Christ-haters are the more pernicious.
Christian fervor, in my opinion, was the EXCUSE for war in Europe. I do believe that MOST wars are over power, land and money. That's just an opinion, by the way, and in no way an objection to what you said.
However, you ARE absolutely right about being careful for what I ask for. I AM careful for what I ask for ... a lesson I learned a few decades ago.
Tsk!!
Were the "artists" Muslims, Christians or just plain assholes jerks?
The villifiers, that is, the left, who think that a "crucifix in a jar of urine" is 'art' and Christians who bellieve that "wee-wee in a jar with Jesus is not important" (as one poster on this thread said to me) are part of the problem. I don't know which is worse, the secularists and lefties or our own spineless, backbone-less Christians who tolerate blasphemy because....because...because.
I do agree with the rest. If Christians were to pray 5 times a day and fast regularly, I think we would see a big change in our world.
UNNECESSARY!
Catholics already HAVE Lent, holy days of obligation, daily Mass, meatless Fridays, days of fast and abstinence, confession, the sacraments, rosaries, retreats, pilgrimages, missions, you name it ... they have all that they need to be strong.
We need to just FOLLOW OUR OWN FAITH as Christ wanted us too. That's ENOUGH. Don't you agree?
We don't need no stinkin' badges Ramadan, 5-times-a-day-prayer or Haj.
Well put.
I really don't think that they are giving up their lives as much for faith as they are because their lives are so boring, and death seems better than to go on living in their empty, meaningless lives.
Could you live a life that had NO TV, NO radio, NO dating, NO jobs, NO place to go, NO cars, NOTHING to do but stand on the street corners in 130 degree heat and scream about everything that everyone else does that angers them. IF I had to live that kind of life, I'd kill myself too. LOL!
Well, OK ... though I don't really see the distinction, given the context of your statement and subsequent responses.
I don't think it's an awful wish to wish for more backbone regarding our reaction to Christ haters. Is that SUCH a drastic thing to wish for? I don't think so.
Well, yes, it could be. For example, the "fervor" for you were wishfully thinking was the same sort one sees in followers of Islam. That was the exact context in which you made your comment. I've seen enough "Islamic fervor" to last me a lifetime, thankyouverymuch.
And it is simply beyond denial that Christendom has seen that sort of fervor in the past -- mixed in with politics and power, to be sure, but given human weaknesses, that only makes sense.
Fervor mixed with human emotion has always been a nasty, dangerous brew. I don't particularly want to deal with "Christ-haters" in the way they did back then; and I certainly don't want to act in the same way that "fervent" Islamic nutjobs deal with "Mohammed-haters."
So ... be careful for what you "wishfully think for."
bttt
Try to hold off on the "LOL" and use your memory for a moment. The 911 bombers were Saudis. Saudis HAVE T.V. (satellite), radio, jobs, places to go, cell phones, computers, the internet, cars out the wazoo and as much to do as anyone in a small town...and the entire country is like a small town.
They DON'T stand out in the 130º heat because all their homes have air conditioners that can get the temperature down to 60º. I know this because I lived there for five years. It's the same with their cars and where they work. 75 years ago what you said is true, but that was 75 years ago. It ain't like that now.
If you are going to screech at all Muslims AND their faith, because of what a relative FEW do, and it's your right to do so, at least get SOME of your facts right.
By the way, there are 1 billion Muslims and only 1/4 of them are Arabs.
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