Mohammed Cartoons

(Updates are now at the bottom)

Well, it seems that the cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet have instigated violent reaction within Muslim communities across the world.

I have seen the cartoons - all of them. No one would have attributed the Islamic religion's prophet Mohammed to these editorial cartoons if the name 'Mohammed' didn't appear in upper left-hand corner of them. They would have remained relatively innocuous if the labeling were left out.

It was very difficult to decide to link this, because I would never depict a religion's prophet in the manner that it was. It is not consistent with how I would view other groups portrayed in similar manner and intent. But would those groups react with violence or decide to sue the publication? After viewing them, I wondered if these cartoonists realized what they were getting themselves into.

But the reaction of the greater Muslim community has been so repulsive that I have become less sympathetic to their cause because of their tyrannical and forceful extortion toward Denmark and Danes in general, that I have chosen to add the link allowing readers * to see for themselves what has caused the problems. * new Canadian link - look for post on Jamaat el Fuqra

Update: original blog removed pics but you can still read the comments here. At least one commentator includes a death threat.


A Rationale for Responsible Leadership

Muslim leaders around the world have condemned the cartoons as Muslim-baiting. European publications have re-published them in solidarity for the right to enforce their freedom of expression and freedom of speech.

One German publication states that blasphemy is allowed to be expressed in the West - that Muslim communities especially in the West - have to be accepting of the fact that freedom to criticize one's own religion or even to leave one's belief system is fair game of freedom of belief, expression and speech laws - fundamentally accepted in Western democracies around the world.
Another point was that there were cartoons that have depicted Jesus is similar blasphemous light but the broader Christian comhasty hasn't reacted as violently or called for kidnapping, death or even the possibility of global jihad as a result.

What the cartoons have proven, is that the violent symbolism associated with the religion's prophet is very much a characteristic of the beliefs that some interpretations of Islam promotes - as is evidenced by the violent reactions of hundreds of thousands of its adherents.

This morning on CTV's Canada A.M., a member of the Canadian Supreme Islamic Council stated that he received a 'News Alert' requesting support by the Danish Muslim community from others because the Danish President refused to apologize.

The C.I.C and most likely the Centre for Islamic-American Relations (C.A.I.R) or C.A.I.R Canada and other Islamic groups would have sent out the alerts. Thus, exploiting their own accusations of Muslim-baiting by further Muslim-baiting themselves and fueling the pasadherentsts adherants by spreading the usually out-of-context alerts to Muslims communities around the world.

This type of irresponsible activism is the rationale behind these particular groups being sued in the United States.


Questioning Danish Muslim Community's Response

This then begs the question: what did the Danish Muslim community do when they became aware of these cartoons? Did they use the tools of the given democracy they were living in - those usually being the laws that govern the country in a Constitution or other piece of legislation – with respect to challenging these cartoons in court?

From a human rights perspective violence is a not an acceptable form of retaliation for exercising one’s freedom of speech. There is broad acceptance of the beliefs of the tenants of a religion – but it becomes much narrower if those tenants that call for violence are acted on. This is a scenario that could have best been handled by a human rights commission or tribunal in the country of origin or use the judicial system to request a remedy or even an appeal to the European Union's human rights commission.

Did they sue the news publication, as they should have? Or did they just expect and demand an apology from the Danish president - an individual who has nothing to do with the newspaper?
It appears that the Danish Muslim community did not use the appropriate legal tools to take this case to the highest court in the land. That is what law is meant for - to guard against unlawful or unconstitutional acts that a particular community finds offensive. If they did launch a court challenge – it would have taken far more than two months to decide.

Instead, they became impatient at trying to force a decision that was improperly vetted and sent their appeal to the broader worldwide Muslim community. It is therefore, the Muslim communities’ own exploitation and West-baiting that has caused the concerns over safety of Danes throughout the world.

The Canadian Islamic Congress is good at publicly condemning acts against Muslims, but many of their own members are busy sending intolerant messages against the Jewish, Hindu, Western women and homosexual communities in propaganda email that is the under-current of their own hypocritical attitudes against these groups.


Canadian Newspaper Censorship to Democratic Rebuttal

I have experienced local censorship in voicing my opinion of the interpretation of Islamic law by Hamilton Spectator Associate Editor Casey Korstanje when I sent this post.

Mr. Korstanje asked me to senddidn't article but didn't bother contacting to let me know the rationale why The Spec chose not to publish it.

I assumed it was because the article was too long - but I attribute it now to Mr. Korstanje's and The Spec's own fear of instigating the same type of violent reaction in Hamilton's Muslim community on a small scale as we are seeing now in the broader community.

Now it is a Canadian newspaper editor who is stifling a justified and respectful rebuttal to a letter to the editor published in The Spec.

Threats to "watch what I say", censorship and frustrating freedom of an opposing opinion were some of the reasons that instigated my leaving the religion in the first place. It appears that this type of tyranny seems to be winning over - in Hamilton at least.



Update - Today's National Post - check out page 10 where it says that the Danish media have tried to find out where a group of Danish Imams ended up with 3 extra "obscene" cartoons and toured the Middle East showing them to various leaders to gain their support. What are they trying to do, instigate the "end of days" as phrophesized by the coming of the Dajjal?

Update - More on the 3 fabricated cartoons

Update - From the National Post: Chief Minister Akram Durrani, the province's top elected official who led the rally, demanded the cartoonists "be punished like a terrorist. "Islam is a religion of peace. It insists that all other religions and faiths should be respected," he told the crowd. "Nobody has the right to insult Islam and hurt the feelings of Muslims."

Of course it's perfectly ok to utter death threats and various other hacking of body parts - as long as your a Muslim. I think these comments pretty well illustrate the bizarre rationale of this guy's belief - Don't slander Islam but punish the cartoonists. With what? Islamic law? Of course it would be in this guy's mind set that Islamic law applies to everyone the world over - including in democratic countries where this should have been handled.

Update Feb 12 - Two news publications in Alberta publish Cartoons - CTV

Update Feb 13 - Alberta's Muslim Community thinking about suing two news organs for publishing cartoons from the Calgary Herald

Personally I hope they do - this will be an absolutely great exercise in democracy and to determine the parameters of freedom of speech and religion. I'd personally like to thank both the publications and the Muslim community for exercising these rights. It shows what the Danish Muslim community should have done in the first place. I'm hoping it will address why these cartoons should have been passed around by the Muslim communities world wide to foment latent distrust in the West as propaganda and including Canadian Muslims in that fight. If something that occurred overseas is going to be used as evidence in Canada then pictures of anti-Jewish propaganda from the Middle East should also be used as evidence. I'm hoping it will be a test of responsibility for all those involved in Canada.

Update Feb 13 - from the C.B.C

Mohamed Elmasry, leader of the Canadian Islamic Congress, told the Globe and Mail that his organization will seek to have charges laid against the magazine under Canada's laws against distributing hate literature. "It's unfortunate," said Elmasry, who had urged Levant not to republish the images. "I think he really goes against the will and the values of Canadians by this provocative action."

I think Mr. Elmasry is within his rights to make this request, although I'm not sure the intent is there. I hope the Alberta police force uses the same rationale that Ontario's police force used when they didn't press hate charges against ElMasry for saying that it was ok to murder innocent civilians and children in suicide bombings. Let's hope thSemiticsn't as anti-semitic as that hidden by many in Ontario's Muslim communities.

Let's not forget the the Canadian Islamic Congress hosted a forum on the media in which a Muslim woman had to remind the audience that the media wasn't owned and run by Jews - the biggest conspiracy theory going that I've heard so far is that it was Israeli's flying the planes into the World Trade Towers.

That reminds me of a cartoon I've drawn - somewhat crappy like - inspired from something I was told when I converted. Maybe I'll send it to Ezra...

Update Feb 13 - a lesson in tolerance from Senegal - Reuters (*my note: I think this problem is secular politics v. Islamic politics where religion becomes secondary)

Update Feb 18 - Totalitarianism or Fear? Paul Bretscher of the University of Toronto's student union wants a U of T newspaper to remove a cartoon depicting what is supposed to be Jesus and Mohammed together in a swan boat headed for the tunnel of tolerance...

Is this guy for real? Has he forgotten what country he's living in? That description can hardly be described as intolerant or racist. Give me a break right about now...

Update Feb 20 - Clash of Civilizations - check out page 6 from a January report by the U.S. State Department