Posted on 02/02/2006 7:11:45 AM PST by Cornpone
PARIS, Feb 2, 2006 (AFP) - France's respected daily newspaper Le Monde joined a European press campaign for freedom of expression Thursday with a front-page cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed and an editorial defending the right to ridicule religions.
The drawing by the paper's long-time cartoonist Plantu featured a head of the prophet made up of the words "I must not draw Mohammed" written repeatedly in long-hand.
"Religions are systems of thought, constructions of the spirit, beliefs which are to be respected certainly, but also freely analysed, criticised and even turned to ridicule," Le Monde said.
"A Muslim may well be shocked by a picture of Mohammed, especially an ill-intentioned one. But a democracy cannot start policing people's opinions, except by trampling the rights of man underfoot," it said.
Plantu told the newspaper that cartoonists and other humourists find it increasingly hard to touch on religion in their work.
"People do not understand to what point -- outside the Catholic Church which we can attack and which is, one has to say, very lenient -- it has become impossible to criticise religious things," he said.
Cojones, not cajones.
I don't disagree that it is a plausible scenario if de-Christianization of our society continues apace. But reducing serious argument about the error of Islam to cartoons contributes to this climate of unthinking blind allegiances: I am Methodist, he is Muslim, where's the difference?
You cannot defeat someone you do not respect.
We can be pure as the driven snow; and thoroughly dead. We demonize these "people" nonstop. Many Americans have forgotten September 11.
Never forget.
We can also be dirty as a drunk Le Monde cartoonist, and dead all the same. Did not like September 11? Do not respond with silly drawings to it.
Obviously written by a real student of religion.
Gracias.
Spain’s leading newspaper El Pais joined other European dailies by publishing a front-page cartoon of Prophet Muhammad today.
It is my understanding that the owner of that newspaper is an Egyptian, which might explain the firing.
This is great news. Is what's left of Western civilization in Europe finally waking up to the threat among them?
...Voltaire? Something like "I disapprove of what you say...
&&
I'm too busy to google it, but I think it was "disagree with" and not "disapprove of".
I agree with your points, though.
There is no dignity in the islamic world but they constantly fight everybody that does not agree with them.
Dignity and free speech very often do not go hand in hand, just look at the dems, or past politics or morality debates, free speech can often be very nasty and undignified.....but free speech is worth fighting for.
Truth is very often not easy to listen too and in many cases we must be impolite to say it and many times it is spoken in an undignified way it does not make it any less true because we became undignified and hurt somebody in saying it.
If these cartoons were just vile and untrue like the islamic cartoons portraying Jews eating babies you might have a point because then it is baseless propaganda, but I have yet to see one of these cartoons that does not portray a very true aspect of islam.
They only scream because they know it hits a nerve and goes straight to the heart of many of their vile problems caused by this "religion".
Freepers are embracing a corrupt philosophy on the basis of "the enemy of my enemy" is my friend. It isn't.
Try finding anything in publications like Le Monde about the evils of sodomy, homosexual marriage or baby-killing. These are the liberal-humanist equivalent of Islam's Mohammed pictures. You must not go there. Sacred matter.
It just so happens that Le Monde has this time chosen a target that is now in the cross-hairs of Americans. Ahhhhhhh bravo Le Monde!! No. Radical Islam is nothing more than a temporary Divinely permitted scourge of an apostate, post-Christian west. It's a reflection of our own corruption and moral decay.
Le Monde, a very major symptom of that decay, is simply precipitating its own and the West's much merited chastisement at the hands of marauding barbarians. As in Old Testament times, a brutal and barbaric race is allowed to persecute a people which has been greatly blessed by God but has now gone astray and abandoned Him.
The difference is the Bible tells us to love our enemies, the koran tells them to kill theirs.
That being said, western cultures value their freedom of the press. I may not agree with the cartons, but I agree that the papers should be able to print them if they wish. National security was not compromised by these pictures. And please don't try to equate these cartoons to porn again. Equating naked people to religious satire is naive/disingenuous (I can't really figure out which is more fitting) to say the least.
To expound on my earlier post, the Europeans' cultures are at risk of disappearing altogether. In the early 70s the members of the European Community aligned themselves with pro-arab/anti-Israel policy thus allowing the arabs to have a much stronger influence in European politics. Through mass immigration of arabs to Europe, a economic and political bloc with muslim/arab oil producing countries and Europe has taken place. This has served to isolate America from Europe, but also has watered down European cultures. It's as if the Europeans have sobered up from oil induced drunkeness and found themselves enslaved to evil task masters. This is their way of trying to break the chains, but I'm afraid it is too little too late So, if all this does is stir up debate on islam then it is well worth it.
Thanks for the great examples of islamofascist intolerance Jackson. Additional examples would be the 150-200 Christian churches and monasteries in Bosnia and Kosovo destroyed and the thousands of priests, nuns and lay people kidnapped/murdered by the followers of mohammad. I personnally believe the civilized peoples of the world must mobilize and eradicate all traces of islamofascism from Europe and the western hemisphere.
Maybe. Hope it's not too late, though...
Great links.
I hope Le Monde has it's fire and theft insurance paid up. Looks like they are going to need it, soon.
I am more concerned with our own dignity. But your statement is not true either. Every man has dignity and is owed dignity. Not every Muslim wants to blow up pizza parlors. There are many who live peacefully and honestly right around you in America and in Israel, and I am sure in every other country as well. The cartoonist insulted them, and that is wrong.
free speech is worth fighting for
Now, this kind of "speech" is not worth lifting a finger for. This is the same anti-religion hysteria that pervades our media and is usually directed at Christians. It just so happened that they hit on Mohammed this time: they hit on Jesus every day. If this kind of vandalism is not condemned by Christians in this instance, we have no standing complaining about anti-Christian bigotry when it is directed at us; or anti-Jewish bigotry when and where that happens.
I have yet to see one of these cartoons that does not portray a very true aspect of islam.
I would agree to a point, that indeed the cartoons satirize stuff in Islam that is less than salutary and without a counterpart in the West, but they do so by insulting every Muslim and do so in violation of a religious tenet important to them. Hence it is not just satire, -- which is published now and then and no one really complains, -- but blasphemy, and the lack of apology shows intent. We are not coming off too good in this.
Later Eurotwit confirmed the fraudulent drawings story:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1570165/posts?page=41#41
There was a link I saw even later with the story but I'm not sure where it was.
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