Mohammed Cartoons or Freedom of the Press?
The Danish consulate was burned to the ground in Beirut on Sunday. In Syria, embassies are torched. Demonstrators in England promise soon Britain will have their own 9/11. A French News paper editor is fired by his Egyptian boss for sending the cartoons to print. Riots are occurring from Palestine to Afghanistan.
Here in the United States, no major paper will print the cartoons out of fear of the repercussions. In a CNN poll when voters are asked what do they favor 38 percent say respect for religious freedom overrides freedom of expression.
Can I ask you this? What is the principle that this country was founded? Freedom of the press and speech was the first amendment that our forefathers established for our government. Without freedom of speech and the press could we say we are truly free?
The Boston Globe has come out with an article "We Are All Danes Now" they report:
"Most of the pictures are tame to the point of dullness, especially compared to the biting editorial cartoons that routinely appear in US and European newspapers. A few of them link Mohammed to Islamist terrorism -- one depicts him with a bomb in his turban, while a second shows him in Heaven, pleading with newly arrived suicide terrorists: ''Stop, stop! We have run out of virgins!" Others focus on the threat to free speech: In one, a sweating artist sits at his drawing board, nervously sketching Mohammed, while glancing over his shoulder to make sure he's not being watched."
And the press is sweating, and so should we. We have given our blood for the right of the basic freedom of speech and the press. Now, our approach is a mixture of appeasement and fear.
The Boston Globe (I recommend reading the full article) insightfully writes about the ramifications:
"The freedom of speech we take for granted is under attack, and it will vanish if it is not bravely defended. Today the censors may be coming for some unfunny Mohammed cartoons, but tomorrow it is your words and ideas they will silence. Like it or not, we are all Danes now."
Today we are muting our presses in the hope that violence will not come to us. Is this how America should react to an assault on the free press. Nearly 40 percent of the CNN poll responders think so.
posted by B O B @ 6:07 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Well Bob if the USA and the Brits do all the fighting let the Europeans do the cartoons.
Good observation Charlie.
I exercise my right to free speech
http://www.davidduke.com/
The Teachings of Julius Streicher (1885-1946)
1. Jews concentrate in certain occupations such as doctors, lawyers, money-lenders, merchants, entertainers, etc. Thus they gain a disproportionate share of the wealth. They control the large monopoly department stores thus putting the independent Gentiles out of business.
2. Jews pay low wages often forcing poor workers into crime and some women into part-time prostitution.
3. Jews are not true creators of wealth. They avoid physical labor and are rarely farmers, masons, factory workers, etc. Their religion teaches that it is shameful.
4. Jews hate Jesus Christ but have turned His birthday int a source of great profits. As Rabbi Jacob Wise said: "It is better to have Christmas than smallpox. Besides, if the crucified one had a brother born in the summertime it would have given us two such profitable holidays."
5. Jews exploit sex for financial gain through their control of the theater and publications.
6. Jews are parasites who secretly gain wealth by exploiting the unwary host people.
7. Jews gain power by first pleading for "tolerance and brotherhood." They coddle political leaders of a nation by making themselves useful - ingratiating themselves until they become the power behind the throne.
8. Jews give to charities in order to gain respectability.
9. Even if a Jew undergoes Christian Baptism he remains a Jew because they are a race.
10. Jews concentrate themselves in the large cities where they promote socialism and decadence.
Great response Melissa. And thank you for commenting. Anonymous needs some direction and I was glad you could provide it.
News You are Not Supposed to Know Department –
But Reported in the Israeli Press!
Commentary by David Duke
When the Jyllands-Posten in Denmark ran the cartoons mocking Muhammed the publisher maintained that their purpose was to promote freedom of speech rather than to antagonize the Muslim world. When the Iranian President and press argued that the Denmark paper is not really concerned with freedom of speech he cited the fact that major dailies across the western world would never allow cartoons that question even the smallest detail of what is today called “The Holocaust.” He also insisted that Jewish extremism would never be satirized in the paper. Immediately, the editor responded that he would prove it was truly a free speech issue by publishing some Holocaust cartoons in conjunction with the Iranian paper Hamshahrari. Now it turns out that the Iranians were completely correct about Western free speech hypocrisy. Not only did the paper issue a statement that on no account would the paper print any cartoons questioning the Holocaust, but also canceled planned cartoons simply critical of Israel. It turns out that in Denmark someone is free to print a cartoon showing the turban of Muhammed to a bomb, but if one displays the symbol of the Jewish state, the Star of David with a fuse attached, one will be censored. Freedom of thought and speech is a cornerstone of Western values. What the cartoon controversy has really proven is that there is no true freedom of speech in the West. One can criticize the enemies of Israel, but one dare not criticize Jewish extremism or the state that was literally founded on terror, the State of Israel. In some nations of Europe scholars face years of imprisonment simply for daring to criticize elements of Jewish supremacism and extremism.
Danish paper cancels plans to republish cartoons about Israel
Fromm 08:22 09/02/2006 From the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
By Asaf Uni, Haaretz Correspondent
The Danish newspaper that created a storm in the Arab world by publishing cartoons of the prophet Mohammed has canceled plans to reprint several cartoons dealing with Israel, a senior editor told Haaretz yesterday.
“We wanted to show that we make fun of everyone, not only Muslims,” said Pierre Collignon of Jyllands-Posten. “But for fear of being misunderstood, we canceled the plan at the last moment.”
One cartoon that was to be published on Sunday depicted a Star of David, to which a bomb with a burning fuse had been attached. This cartoon, which has been published in the newspaper in the past, was drawn by the same artist who drew the cartoon of the prophet Mohammed with a “ticking bomb” on his head.
“We wanted to show that even the Jews, with all the historic sensitivity, accepted satire aimed at their sacred symbols without staging angry demonstrations.”
Meanwhile, a Jyllands-Posten’s editor said on CNN yesterday that he would cooperate with the Iranian daily Hamshahri, which announced a competition of cartoons on the Holocaust. However, the newspaper hastened to issue a denial.
Editor-in-chief Carsten Juste said the editor had been misunderstood. “On no account would we publish Holocaust caricatures together with the Iranian daily,” he said
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