Does Freedom of the Press Include "Islam Sucks"?

Cornell Daily Sun ^ | March 12, 2002 | JOSH PLOTNIK

[Palmetto]

Incidentally, no device has been invented that can accurately calculate the "suck quotient" of Islam,

"Net Positive Suction Head" - not making this up.

[Mr. Bird]

Islam:adj. fr. L sugo sugere suxi suctum

[Alouette]

[Mr. Bird]

My apologies:

Islam(ETYMOLOGY): Middle English suken, from Old English sucan.

[weikel]

Ummm I see nothing wrong with his statement...

[Euro-American Scum]

Fisher's column was perceived as a symbol of hate by dozens of readers who wrote infuriated letters to the editor as well as by many who probably didn't write letters. Of course, when I read some of these letters, I saw hate just as strong from Muslim readers.

Impossible! Islam is a religion of peace.

[Euro-American Scum]

"Nor would Fisher imagine how it would sound to accuse Judaism when the Zionist criminals committed all their crimes in Lebanon and in Palestine today. It was not Sept. 11 that created this hate but it was that day that gave the chance to those creatures to spit all their poisons."

Take a good look, campers. Your tax dollars at work. The results of a secular liberal education for your sons and daughters.

[Kermit]

I can't beleive that Ted "the unfunny cartoonist" Rall had won a Pulitzer Prize. I went to the Pulitzer Prize website to search, but their database is on the fritz. They say check back later.

[neutrino]

Despite my views that islam does in fact suck, I believe we have an excellent precedent that demonstrates such statements as "islam sucks" to be protected speech.

Consider, if you will, how the moslems of the world would care for a copy of the koran immersed in a container of urine. Or, perhaps one of their banners with all the arabic writing, likewise submerged. That would be an "artwork" very similar to the "P*ss Christ" created in 1989 by Serrano. Note that Serrano's contribution was funded with a grant by the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts).

I wonder if the NEA would provide me with a grant to work on something like this? Say, with the title "P*ss off Mohammed" where a copy of the koran is attached to a stone inside a glass container of mare's urine? This would allude to the islamic myth that 'hammed mounted the mare (Lightning was her name), and the horse then flew directly to paradise. Supposedly, a mark in a stone at the Dome of the Rock bears the impression of the horses hoof print.

Don't y'all be stealin' my idea now!

[Behind Liberal Lines]

That's the funny thing about the Stygian underworld that is Ithaca--they don't realize how transparently effed-up they are.

Well, Ithaca is the City of Evil.

Check out ISIS, the e-zine of Ithaca's conservative underground for more on life amoung the lefties.

[GATOR NAVY]

Well, that doesn't surprise me, seeing as how his cartoon sounded liked it sucked. Hope you're right and this bozo is not a pulitzer winner.

[NativeNewYorker]

I almost posted the Wayne State piece referred to at the top of the thread, but someone had beaten me to it.

[the]

Courtesy Findlaw:

U.S. Supreme Court

COHEN v. CALIFORNIA, 403 U.S. 15 (1971)

403 U.S. 15

COHEN v. CALIFORNIA
APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
No. 299.
Argued February 22, 1971
Decided June 7, 1971

Appellant was convicted of violating that part of Cal. Penal Code 415 which prohibits "maliciously and willfully disturb[ing] the peace or quiet of any neighborhood or person . . . by . . . offensive conduct," for wearing a jacket bearing the words "Fuck the Draft" in a corridor of the Los Angeles Courthouse. The Court of Appeal held that "offensive conduct" means "behavior which has a tendency to provoke others to acts of violence or to in turn disturb the peace," and affirmed the conviction. Held: Absent a more particularized and compelling reason for its actions, the State may not, consistently with the First and Fourteenth Amendments, make the simple public display of this single four-letter expletive a criminal offense. Pp. 22-26.

1 Cal. App. 3d 94, 81 Cal. Rptr. 503, reversed.

(emphasis mine)

Sorry for the crudeness. "Islam sucks" is pretty tame compared to "F^<% the draft".

[general_re]

I wonder if the NEA would provide me with a grant to work on something like this? Say, with the title "P*ss off Mohammed" where a copy of the koran is attached to a stone inside a glass container of mare's urine? This would allude to the islamic myth that 'hammed mounted the mare (Lightning was her name), and the horse then flew directly to paradise.

Nah, it's too derivative. Maybe you can make something based on another part of the story. "Mohammed mounted the mare" seems like it has the potential to become a piece that's extremely offensive and tasteless. And being offensive and tasteless always seems to improve one's odds of obtaining a government grant, as you've noticed ;)

[denydenydeny]

It always amazes me that "artists" are always called "courageous" when they produce such things.

I want to see them, as you suggested, suffuse the Koran in urine. Or sculpt the Kaaba in elephant dung. Or stage a play featuring Mohammed sodomizing his companions. And then see what happens.

Then I'll believe in their "courage."

[GATOR NAVY]

Tsk, tsk- we all know that piss and shit are only art when applied with Christian icons.

[Non-Sequitur]

"It's not Muslims that I dislike -- I just dislike their faith."

OK, how you dislike a muslim's faith without disliking the muslim? You have just used their faith to identify them.

[IncPen]

Moses does know. Thanks for the tip.

[weikel]

Very simple(im gonna get flamed for this) I have many Catholic friends but don't like the Catholic church or creed.

[jonatron]

Islam - The religion of peace(tm)