Posted on 02/19/2006 7:18:04 AM PST by Chi-townChief
Opinions Are Like Belly Buttons (everybody has one) -- aka: Brown Picks Lint from His Navel.
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Odds are that you would not be offended by seeing a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, seeing as how Muslims are a scant minority of this newspaper's readers.
But how would you feel about it if we ran a cartoon depicting Jesus Christ in a priest's garb sodomizing a choirboy to illustrate the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church?
I'll bet some of you would have a slightly different reaction to that.
Or what if that same cartoon depicted the choirboy as African-American, in light of the alleged abuse at St. Agatha's in North Lawndale?
Just reading the description probably causes the hair to stand up on the back of some of your necks, as I well appreciate.
Words can be powerful tools, pictures even more so. I considered substituting a milder description than sodomizing, just to tone it down. Self-censorship, you see.
But what if I took it even further, what if the cartoon's caption somehow incorporated Jesus using the "N" word? Or just to clarify that the point I'm trying to make is not based on race, let's make the choirboy a white girl and the caption with Jesus using the "C" word.
That's entirely different than the Muhammad cartoons, you may say.
The Muhammad cartoons are nowhere near as offensive as what I'm describing, you think.
Well, apparently they are to Muslims.
It's great to hear all the support that's being voiced around the country right now for the First Amendment in light of the Muhammad cartoon controversy -- all of it coming from people egging us on to print the cartoons.
Yes, we have the right to print the Danish newspaper's cartoons, just as we would have the right to print a cartoon such as the offensive ones I have imagined.
Having the freedom to print what we want carries some responsibility to consider how it will affect those on the receiving end, which is a balancing act we face every day.
Pushing people's buttons
I'll bet my imaginary Jesus Christ cartoon could get a few protesters outside the Sun-Times, and if we told the protesters to buzz off, citing freedom of the press, I'll bet we could get some death threats, too. Rioting in the streets? Probably not. Unless we kept it up.
Maybe you think I'm missing the point. The real issue, you think, is the violent rioting in the Muslim world and that Muslims need to understand that they can't kill people because they don't like what's in the newspaper.
How exactly does publishing the cartoons here serve that end? Or do you just feel the need to prove that we're not afraid of any Muslim protesters?
One thing I've learned since I started writing this column is how easy it is to push people's buttons, and I'm not even the most skilled in-house practitioner of the art.
Secondly, these anti-Christian tests that Brown is proposing have already taken place and we know the results: in the case of 'Piss Christ' and dung covered Mary, most anger was non-violently directed at the federal government for financing such literal waste. And, more recently, supposed pop singer Kanye West posing as the crucified Christ on a Rolling Stone cover was greeted by Christians with a collective shrug and the thought that, even with all his money, Kanye is still a loser.
The overall difference: Christians have a strong God Who wants them to live as free people; Muslims have a weak prophet who calls for submission of the individual to his totalitarian fiefdoms.
CHICAGOLAND PING
All this sanctimony about Mohammerhead, as if he was some kind of holy man is just a bunch of nonsense. He was a general of an army and was involved in at least 65 military campaigns. To deny he was involved in brutal massacres is a flat out lie.
The only thing inaccurate about the bomb turban is that there weren't any bombs in Mohammerhead's day. Had he bombs, he would have used them as necessary to kill infidels.
The big difference is Jesus would never approve killing the innocent and he himself never killed anyone. In fact he saved many people. Christians worship live and Muslims praise death.
Well Jesus would be misrepresented in such a cartoon being he lived a perfect sinless life even forgave those who mocked him and spit on him.. Where as we have this disgusting piece of work called mohammad who was in every sense of the word a Terrorist. im sure if he had bombs back then he would of used it. Instead he raped young girls, masacred 800 jewish men and boys etc etc etc do i really need to repeat it all again we all know.
Ridicule only really hurts when it is true or close to the truth. That is why muslims are outraged. Denial is certainly an effective method for avoiding the truth, but it isn't strong enough to withstand ridicule and teasing.
---Odds are that you would not be offended by seeing a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, seeing as how Muslims are a scant minority of this newspaper's readers. ---
I think the fact that Muslims are on a world-wide terror binge has something to do with our lack of offense taking, Mark Brown, you muddled-headed confuser of issues.
How did you know what I would post in response to this author's juvenile attempt at relativism?
turn the other cheek
actually, southpark has 'fun' with our faith (and that probably offends the extra sensitive) they always seem to use it to tear into how fickle we are, not Jesus, so perhaps not a fair comparison.
What if a crucifix was dumped in a jar of urine. I'm sure we would have had Christians rioting and burning down buildings. Oh, wait that not only happened, Our Government paid for it, and Christians in the US protested peacefully, most just said the government shouldn't pay for it, but I didn't hear anyone demand that the "artist" be beheaded, or have his hands cut off. Brown is an idiot.
*****How exactly does publishing the cartoons here serve that end? Or do you just feel the need to prove that we're not afraid of any Muslim protesters?****
My friend you have just proved that you in fact ARE afraid.
Your story doesnt make sense because as others have pointed out the examples of cartoons you say might anger Christians have already appeared and no on died becasue of it.
Christians are attacked daily by the ACLU and so far no one at ACLU has died from it.
"The only thing inaccurate about the bomb turban is that there weren't any bombs in Mohammerhead's day. Had he bombs, he would have used them as necessary to kill infidels."
If Mohammed (pizz be upon him) had had the technology that his sicko adherents have/are getting today, the whole story of history might be very different.
Which is why the world needs to quit dancing around and drop the big hammers on Iran and any other Mohammedan Koraniacs that mess with WMDs.
MARK BROWN'S supposed "thought provoking" makes Jethro Bodine seem like PJ O'Rourke.
Good analysis. msm outlets all over the country are rationalizing to themselves why, since the cartoons ARE the news that are "causing" riots and deaths, they are not printing this news.
This garbage posing as ‘art’ was deemed offensive to Christians. CNN had no qualms about showing it and offending Christians. It has remained on their web site until today. Nearly five years now.
In fact, if you click on the link above, you will see this ‘work’ - still proudly displayed on CNN’s website.
Now the violent Muslims are rampaging and burning things - again - about a few cartoons, and CNN says, “CNN has chosen to not show the cartoons out of respect for Islam.”
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/02/05/cartoon.protests/index.html
Follow this link and read the last line in the article.
Hypocrisy?
Do not trust the MSM.
muhammed was a pedophile, a murderer and a fag. Islam is as much a religion of peace as communism is a politic of equality. While Christianity has it's faults, wearing suicide bomb belts to kill innocents is not one of them.
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