All entries for Thursday 09 February 2006

It's all about free speech… or is it?

Writing about web page http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060208/wl_nm/religion_cartoons_denmark_jesus_dc_1;_ylt=AsOoA5n5eTZsRmU5KWj26kDbEfQA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

The Danish newspaper really wanted to test the measures of freedom of speech right? It didn't set out to offend Muslims but, essentially, to bring us the important message that some Muslims are giving all Muslims a bad name right?

Well, no. They deliberately set out to offend Muslims and they weren't acting as bastions of free speech. The paper (and no, I'm not confusing singular and plural – I'm interchanging the paper and "they") had previously refused to print cartoons of Jesus in a variety of silly poses because it would have been offensive to readers. The editor is now claiming that "offensive" was the wrong word and the cartoons were simply "bad". Which makes sense of course, considering these 12 cartoons depicting Mohammed PBUH were veritable works of art.

The self-same paper is now planning to shore up its publicity by publishing comedic/critical/offensive (one presumes) cartoons in relation to the holocaust. Can't wait to see B'nai B'rith, ADL et al. get their panties in a twist.

: 09 Feb 2006 06:54 |  Tags: Islam Politics |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem