Anybody who's read Dowbrigade for more than a few days knows Michael Feldman doesn't shy away from attacking sacred cows - or from posting possibly offensive images. But he won't be posting any of those Danish Mohammed cartoons - a decision he came to only after some agonizing and even after thinking publication would be something he'd be williing to risk his job over (since his workplace has many Muslim clients):
... Then we thought of some of our Muslim students, past and present, not as Muslims or as students, but as people. People we knew and liked and respected. People we would not want to insult or offend in any normal personal, social or professional situation. ...
In the end, though, he does link to a site that's posted them.
Sunni Sister, who is Moslem, says there is another side to the whole story - and that economic boycotts, of the kind used so successfully by Christian conservatives in the U.S., are the way to deal with anti-Moslem speech:
... You see, my friends, it is free speech when they portray the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in such a manner, but a criminal act if someone in those same countries makes provocative (or outright false) statements about the Holocaust. So it's not about "free speech," it's about asserting their dominance over the Muslim world and over the Muslims in their countries, who are already in positions of extreme difficulty. Us Mozzies have gotten a little too uppity for their tastes lately, I guess. Need to be reminded by our old European masters who has the upper hand.
What I personally find troubling about this is that while the Germans, French, Austrians, Belgians, and others have laws against Holocaust deniers, now, today, in the name of free speech and democracy their governments and certain people within their societies are spreading the same sort of hateful propaganda against Muslims, Arabs, and Africans. ...
Other local bloggers, though, have not shied away from either reprinting some of the cartoons or telling those attacking the cartoons where they can go:
Carpundit rejects the notion that this represents a clash of Islam vs. Christianity:
It is not Islam versus Christianity, or Islam versus Judaism, or Islam versus The West. It is Islam versus Everything Else, civilization itself. From the destruction of ancient Buddhist statues to threats of death for cartoonists, from the stoning of single mothers to honor killings, from the destruction of skyscrapers to the murder of babies, Islam is waging war on civilization. This is the great conflict of this age. ...
In another post, he is more succinct, in reacting to a Hamas legislator's outrage over the cartoons:
Really? Well, fuck your prophet. And the camel he rode in on.
Gary McGath, noting the State Department is now on record favoring religious extremism over freedom of the press: US caves in to Islamic thugs.
Sissy Willis, who's been writing quite a lot about the issue, wonders why CNN and Fox cite sensitivity to Islam in refusing to show the images:
... [W]e switched into double-standard mode, desperately trying to fit their round "We report, you decide" slogan into the square hole of their self-censorship. Maybe it was a bottom-line decision, or how about just good manners? Nobody's perfect? It didn't work. Had the terrorists, after all -- sneaking in the back door while we were busy at the front -- finally won? ...
Bruce at mAss Backwards: In what kind of sick, fucked-up world is it OK to chop off someone's head off over a friggin' cartoon?
Jay Fitzgerald: Buy Danish!
Wrestling with Truth acknowledges the seeming hypocrisy of a group of people who quietly sit by while their co-religionists murder children, but says the cartoon explosion didn't come out of nowhere:
... What we're seeing is years -- if not longer -- of anger, frustration and solidarity bubbling to the surface. They're sick of everyone being against them. Hell, I would be too. In a nutshell, this is why Muslims and Arabs are so easily provoked by slights to them. ...
Solomon notes not all Muslims are calling for death to the Danes.
Mikarrhea wonders what the protests say about the chances for world peace:
Obviously, one of the biggest questions facing our world in the near future is whether Muslims and non-Muslims can coexist peacefully on it. And the fact is, they simply can't, if Muslims are going to maintain the position that depicting their prophet, and even going "Nyaah! Nyaah!" at them, is a crime punishable by death.
Hey, Muslims! Your Prophet wears army boots! ...
