The cartoonist escaped by locking himself in a safe room inside his house then calling police who shot the axe-wielding attacker. I’m guessing most Danes don’t have safe rooms, so he must have previously received numerous death threats.
Craig Murray is eloquent: Attack on cartoonist is indefensible
It is not pleasant to be deliberately offensive to anybody’s religious views. But the radical Christian right in the USA, and the whole history of the abuse of religous authority in all religions, shows why it is essential to maintain freedom of speech on religious subjects. So the cartoons about Mohammed should not be censored; the same is true of the films “The Last Temptation of Christ” and “The Life of Brian”. Muslim friends of mine who are outraged at the Danish cartoons, do not hesitate to make fun of Hindus and their perceived veneration of cows.
The values of free speech are crucial. To those who say there is no freedom to offend, I would say that is why they persecuted Gallileo,Copernicus – and Ulugbek. The freedom to offend is essential to human progress.
I don’t find it unpleasant at all – Animals, less than sufficiently evolved, proto-humans… bow down to gods. Human Beings do not.
I am oft reminded of a Star Trek Next Generation episode where an entity, an ‘immortal’, was so bereaved of the loss of his life’s love at the hands of an invading species he willed them into non-existence. He didn’t will them fiery torturous deaths or that their fleet were scattered to the winds… he willed them into non-existence. They never existed, they never even evolved – their home solar system never evolved.
Would that I could, will all who bow down to the dog of abraham – jew, muslim, christian into non-existence
Whoa– there are some fine people who worship at that altar. And there are some dangerous wackos. It’s pretty much like any other religion, and the non-religious.
Your comment made me think of Thai Catholic Fr. Niphot Thienvihan, a tireless worker for justice for the poor in the Chiang Mai area of that Buddhist country, and a man who walks the walk (and talks very little). Or Kareem, a Muslim doing amazing work in the Batticaloa area of eastern Sri Lanka, an area recently devasted by the majority-Buddhist military. Or Jehan Perera, a Sinhalese Catholic, a tireless worker for peace in that country. The five Christian Peacemakers, Mennonites all, who were kidnapped a few years ago in Iraq for having the audacity to want to help Muslims form their own peace organizations; one was executed. William Knox, a Quaker, who has spent the past 20 years in combat zones trying to bring people together. Daniel Smith-Christopher, another Quaker and university professor, who was instrumental in teaching me that the Bible is a book about how violence fails.
I could go on, but I hope you get the point. There are plenty of people who have heard the true message of that Book: trust God and help others. Their loss would make us all poorer.
Scandos: or scandinavians countries with the line of Germans hate anybody that s not white aryan from Mein kampf…Insulting through cartoons and movies other cultures is the proof that the Germans and Scandos were anti semitics and mistreating the Jews and minorities>Germans and Scandos have to build multi cultural societies that respect other races and societies .Germans and scandos have to be taught that HITLER was a murderous who caused the death of 25 million people.Germans and Scandos have to open their borders to other races and not emigrate all over English speaking countries , countries they hate for their multi cultural dynamics that they cant build… Germans and Scandos are racists Societies…
Right. That’s why Germany currently has strict laws forbidding trafficking in Nazi paraphernalia and no freedom of speech when it comes to Nazi ideas, and the post I linked to condemning the attack was written by an Anglo, Craig Murray.