Cartoons don't kill people, people kill people!
Whether it be the South Park episode or the venerated Lars Vilks who has risked life and limb to exercise his artistic freedom, artists, journalists, and people of the liberal tradition everywhere are being threatened with death or bodily harm for exercising a fundamental human right, the right to freely express one's own point of view without threatening bodily harm to another. In these cases the issue revolves around the depiction of the supposed "prophet" Mohammed of Mecca. I feel strongly that not only is it our right to criticize and/or lampoon religion and religious figures, but this act actually provides a public good by encouraging a plurality of thought and by calling into question unfounded and negative elements in religion and elsewhere, but I want to hear from you, where do you stand on human rights, and do you feel that it would be smart to lobby our legislative assemblies to abolish arcane "blasphemy" laws before the tyranny of the irrational roll back the entire Enlightenment and have us all living in a new global mediaeval time where censorship is the rule, not the exception.
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Comment by QM on May 9, 2010 at 3:26pm -
I think it is a very valid point that you have raised and I strongly believe that criticizing religions and religious figures should be protected by freedom of speech. This is primarily because of the fact that religion itself has and still causes harm not only to its adherents but to others as well. The recent acts of terrorsim by Muslim fanatics who have disrupted the lives of citizens of various countries is one example. We need to adhere to this idea that nothing is sacred and beyond criticism.
Unfortunately, as of know religion still get special privilege to the extent that recently the UN passed a resolution that will protect 'defamation' of all religious believes, which in my opinion is a shameful proposition.
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Comment by Franco P on May 9, 2010 at 11:07pm -
\0/
( ) <---- mohammed
/ \
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Comment by Darwin Penda on May 11, 2010 at 10:27pm -
Neal, good points, I'm totally with you on holding these extremist groups to the fire, what they are doing is not free speech but using threat and intimidation to affect another's action or potential action. I was thinking more of the legacy blasphemy laws that are still in existence in Europe but little enforced since the Enlightenment; there are groups of conservative Christians and Muslims trying to reenforce them. We here in America still have laws in several states that preclude those who don't believe in the concept of deity from holding public office; pretty bad too.
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Comment by Darwin Penda on May 11, 2010 at 10:30pm
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Neal, good points, I totally with you on holding these extremist groups to the fire, what they are doing is not free speech but using threat and intimidation to affect another's action or potential action. I was thinking more of the legacy blasphemy laws that are still in existence in Europe but little enforced since the Enlightenment; there are groups of conservative Christians and Muslims trying to reenforce them. We here in America still have laws in several states that preclude those who don't believe in the concept of deity from holding public office; pretty bad too.
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