In February, several newspapers in Denmark reprinted the controversial cartoons of Islam's prophet, Muhammad, after Danish authorities arrested several people who allegedly were plotting a "terror-related assassination" of the cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard.
Westergaard's cartoon depicted the prophet wearing a bomb as a turban with a lit fuse. He said he wanted his drawing to say that some people exploited the prophet to legitimize terror.
However, many in the Muslim world interpreted the drawing as depicting their prophet as a terrorist.
Islam generally forbids any depiction of the prophet -- even favorable ones -- fearing that it may lead to idolatry.
Two years ago, demonstrations erupted across the world after some newspapers printed the same cartoons. Some protests turned deadly.
The protests prompted Danish officials to temporarily close the embassy in Islamabad.
In the spirit of freedom of speech, below is a recent film by 
12 comments. Leave a comment:
Wow, what a disgusting piece of filth that film was. Of course most of the things shown in it are despicable, but you need to read between the lines. This film is an indictment of ALL Muslims, clumsily painting with a very broad brush. Surely those responsible for it are very bigoted people. Would you post a similar video about any other group in the "spirit of free speech?" I doubt it. Of course it's free speech and should be allowed. But white power propaganda is free speech too, just as disgusting, and doesn't deserve any free publicity either.
Islam is a religion, not a race. have you been to the middle east to see how people live in these countries? it is highly doubtful. the film makes very good points about the lack of women rights and gay rights, and the violence in the islamic world.
you may not like it. but it is honest.
I never said Islam was a race, so you can save that tired old counter-argument.
the fact is that muslims are silent for the most part about the atrocities you see in this film. those few muslims that do take a stance against violence are alientated and apostates. many of the dissenters have fatwas over their head.
so in this case the criticism is deserved and the hope is that muslims who identify as moderates will speak out against the outrageous things going on in the middle east. we can't refrain from exploring films like fitna or examining the danish cartoons because muslims are offended. i don't know if you recall how muslims took violently to the streets after the danish cartoons and began killing people in some cases. if anything this reaffirms our need to criticize the religion of islam.
you're right, you didn't say islam was a race. but you did allude to "white power" propaganda and that is something touches upon issues of race and racism.
Okay how 'bout anti-Judaism propaganda, would that be okay to post in the "spirit of free speech?"
you can post whatever you want because it is your right to do it. start a blog and post as many anti jewish cartoons and films as you want.
you are missing the point when you throw around the word "propaganda." there have been pieces of art depicting jesus with feces and the virgin mary as a whore. but christians didn't violently take to the streets. there are cartoons of jews that are antisemitic and paint them with hook noses and utilize the blood libel stereotype. but jews don't blow people up over it.
and then you have the danish cartoons... and check out the violent and bloody reaction. it is the same as the reactions fot the film fitna.
But what is your point? Cherry-picking extreme examples and putting them in a short video meant to condemn an entire religion and all of its adherents is a PRIME example of propaganda. The same person who made this film has said he would like to ban the Qur'an from his country. So much for freedom of speech.
The fact is terrorists are, for the most part, Muslim. They aren't Christian or Buddhist or Jewish or Atheist.
Islam and violence is not a new concept. Under Islamic rule Jews and Christians of the Middle East were persecuted. Ms. Cohen posted a story about Baghdad Jews and about Middle Eastern Jewish refugees.
This is a great example of why Islam is not a peaceful religion. That does not mean that Muslims are bad. The religion is inherently flawed and leads to violence and presecution. We've got to empower the moderates and those who call for reform who are consistently being silenced.
The film that Bryan keeps calling propaganda cites passages from the Koran and shows you the repercussions of the people who take the passages to heart.
It is also quite sad that most Muslims are silent and refuse to condemn violence in the name of their religion. The Danish cartoons caused someone to blow up innocent civilians near the Danish Embassy a few days ago (as the blog post points out). Where is the moral outrage from Muslims across the world?
I was at a peace rally a couple years ago where Muslims were holding up signs that said "Behead Those Who Insult Islam."
Bryan Garcia is clueless.
Nick, have you ever read the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible? There are some pretty violent stories in there. Mass murder and genocide committed in the name of YHWH. Using your same logic, one could conclude that Judaism is a violent, flawed religion. I don't believe it is, but I am just saying if we consistently applied your logic across the board. I also don't believe that Islam is an inherently flawed, violent religion.
Bryan,
Unlike Judaism and Christianity, Muslims are still stuck in the dark ages.
Jews and Christians don't engage in honor killins, stonings. They don't massacre gays or kill those who are suspected of dishonor.
That is the difference.
I am an Atheist. I wasn't raised in a religious household. I realize all religions are flawed. Islam, however, is flawed more than others. I don't care if people want to pray to the devil so long as they don't use their religion to validate the repression and killings of "disbelievers."
See but where you are mistaken is in assuming that more than a small, vocal minority of Muslims subscribe to the aforementioned "dark age" beliefs. Most don't agree with such things.
Bryan,
Even if only 5 percent of Muslims are radical, it is still an enormous number. Also, why are Muslims failing to denounce the attacks that are made in their religion?
Have you seen Muslim Student Associations in action across US campuses? If you're a student at UCI, you will note that Anti-Americanism and unfair treatment of Israel by the MSU. Speakers on campus believe in the destruction of Israel. Yet the group and the speakers won't talk about Darfur and how Muslims are killing non-Muslims and those who aren't Muslim enough in that country. I have been to Darfur, Sudan. It amazes me that people are clueless about how Muslims are responsible for ethnically cleansing these people.
So there you have it. Maybe the typical Muslim isn't going to commit a suicide attack. However, the typical Muslim isn't quick to denounce that sort of thing either. And every Islamic country is corrupt and miserable. Women are treated like dogs. In North Africa, there are Imams who condone Female Genital Mutilation.
You may think it's a minority. However, if you ever visit the Arab world you may change your mind rather quickly.
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