The Cartoon Caliphate: Islamist Extremists Threaten to Murder Danish Cartoonists, Bomb Their Office Building
Really, I think you can tell a lot about people by whether or not they have any sense of humor or social give-and-take.
Here is the latest in the recent cartoon culture clashes:
- First, it was the banning of Piglet. ("Free Piglet!")
- Then it was the bowdlerization of "The Simpsons."
- Now the kid gloves are off entirely in Demark as Islamist extremists threaten to murder cartoonists and bomb their office building.
Why? These cartoonists had drawn political cartoons depicting Muhammad. An entire phalanx of Islamic leaders (and diplomats!) has descended on Denmark, demanding apologies from the unfortunate newspaper. If you'd like to see these jihad-inspiring cartoons, they are right here. (Links filched from the excellent Michelle Malkin.)
The Brussels Journal post notes:
The newspaper published the cartoons when a Danish author complained that he could find no-one to illustrate his book about Muhammad. Jyllands-Posten wondered whether there were more cases of self-censorship regarding Islam in Denmark and asked twelve illustrators to draw the prophet for them. . . . Flemming Rose, the cultural editor at the newspaper, denied that the purpose had been to provoke Muslims. It was simply a reaction to the rising number of situations where artists and writers censored themselves out of fear of radical Islamists, he said. “Religious feelings cannot demand special treatment in a secular society,” he added. “In a democracy one must from time to time accept criticism or becoming a laughingstock.” (MM's note: I have to add, for clarity's sake, the view of the opposing side, as also quoted: "The Danish imam Raed Hlayhel reacted with the statement: 'This type of democracy is worthless for Muslims. Muslims will never accept this kind of humiliation. The article has insulted every Muslim in the world.'") |
More here from the official website of Denmark (which also points out fears of Al Qaeda in Scandinavia). It has this very telling statement in it: "The daily's editors said the cartoons were a test of whether the threat of Islamic terrorism had limited the freedom of expression in Denmark."
And now we all know the answer to that. While we're at it, the same Brussels Journal post points out the double standard at work:
Meanwhile in Brussels a young Muslim immigrant published a poster depicting the Virgin Mary with naked breasts. Though the picture has drawn some protest from Catholics (though not from Western embassies, nor from the bishops), this artist need not fear being murdered in the street. On the contrary, he is being subsidised by the Ministry for Culture. (more details here) |
Freedom of expression for everybody, please. Not just hypersensitive fundamentalists or bloody-minded extremists who want to silence everyone they don't like. Free Piglet! Remember Theo van Gogh! The truly sad thing is, there's very little outcry over this sort of oppression. (And yes, it is oppression. I'm choosing that word very carefully.) Say hello to the new climate of fear.
One more thing. All this current uproar is over cartoons. Just little scribbled cartoons. But this bodes very ill for real social issues, doesn't it? If people start spewing death threats over cartoons, how are we supposed to talk about real tolerance for difference? I don't mean the half-hypocritical, half-appeasing sort of "tolerance" that's preached by the multicultural gang. I mean real tolerance.