What if corporations will take place of temples. People will just wear Nike sign instead of Jesus on Cross? Spend sunday in McDonalds instead in church? They're powerfull too, ordering people to think that they mass products are better than other They're very deep in minds of common people
I think free speech suffers at times due to the bad name which has been given to it. There are few places where this is more apparent than in the average leftist protest. The following links will connect you to videos. Each video contains footage which demonstrates the claim I make in each link. As you watch these videos, ask yourself whether the leftist protesters truly value freedom of speech. Protesters often say that their protests are shining examples of free speech, but they make every attempt to drown out anybody who disagrees with them. (watch the trailer) Protesters often stand for peace and an end to war, but resort to violence when they encounter opposition. Protesters often say that, in spite of their opposition to the Iraq war, they support American troops. Still, one must question why they carried a sign saying, "WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS WHEN THEY SHOOT THEIR OFFICERS." This is what passes for "enlightenment" in the leftist camp.
The whole thing is ridiculous. How many Muslims in the Middle east read Danish newspapers or comics? Racists? Muslims are not a race. It's a religion. Most of the "West" enjoy some levle of freedom of speech, freedom of the press. Should westerners riot when Middle East/Muslim presses print anti-western or anti-western religious CARTOONS? Are we being manipulated by the press and some secret agenda? Sure we are.....if we let them. The world is in big trouble if we all can't take a joke.
Obviously you have never heard of the Mormons, Scientology, 700 Club, American Baptist fundamentalist radio/TV broadcasters. Religious extremism is now in-vogue. The new religions are here already. See the movie Videodrome with Jim Woods: "long life to the new flesh". See Rollerball: "I remember when there were four corporations.."
NO they do NOT! Those are CARTOONS. Hardly the stuff written to incite or racist. Let the decision go to a trial. The rioters are wrong. There is no justification for violence.
Have you ever said something, without the intent of harming or angering anybody, yet still offended someone? It is quite likely that you have. The listener's perception is often more relevant than the speaker's intent is. Jyllands-Posten may not have published the cartoons with the intent of inciting hatred toward/within the Muslim community, yet many Muslims perceive these cartoons as deliberate attacks on Islam. I understand that we can not lend too much credibility to the newspaper's audience (we can't have somebody taking offense at the location of the business section), but the Muslims are not being unreasonable in their protest over the caricatures. Jyllands-Posten can not claim they had no idea a portrayal of Muhammad would incite the Muslim community. In fact, this is proven in the Danish paper's rationale for its publication of the cartoons: Source Jyllands-Posten knew that its cartoons would offend many Muslims, but it decided to publish them anyway. Regardless of whether you think it is right or wrong, the cartoons would be within the jurisdiction of the CoE hate crime protocol.
I add here an article written in a Spanish newspaper (I include also a translation, with some adaptation in order everybody could understand it; sorry for any error; Broz, pls, correct me if you see anything wrong): Siento de verdad que el debate sobre las ideas lo toméis como algo personal, pero debo recordaros que la humanidad ha progresado gracias a gente que ha puesto en duda ideas sagradas como las vuestras, negando que la tierra fuese el centro del universo, deduciendo que el propio universo surgió tras una colosal explosión, que no hubo un primer padre del que dios sacó una costilla para fabricarle una señora que le hiciese la comida y las camas y le lavara la ropa, sino una evolución selectiva de la materia desde los aminoácidos esenciales hasta el más exquisito rey de la creación, o sea, José María Aznar en persona humana, que la sangre circula por las venas, que el fuego, los rayos, los truenos, las inundaciones, las enfermedades no eran manifestaciones del mal humor de ningún ente sobrenatural, sino que tenían una explicación científica. Muchos de ellos, por poner en duda las ideas pretendidamente inmutables sobre las que se asentaba la bien engrasada industria de dios, fueron condenados a muerte en la hoguera y otros medios refinados de tortura. Así que permitidme que os diga que, ya que la religión se empeña en salir del ámbito privado para contaminar sin pudor la vida pública, debe estar dispuesta a afrontar la crítica como toda obra humana. Porque son las personas, como vosotros, y solo las personas, las que son dignas de respeto. Pero no las ideas. Las ideas son buenas o malas, útiles o inútiles, pero ninguna es digna de respeto. Translation: I am really sorry that people consider discussion about ideas as a personal insult, but I should remind you that mankind have progressed thanks to people that have doubt about sacred beleives, denying that earth is the center of the universe, deducing that the universe began after a huge explosion; that there was not a first man from whom a rib were taken off to create him a woman who could make him the lunch, the bed and wash him the clothes, but a selective evolution of the matter, from aminoacids, to the most esquisite king of the creation, this is, Mr. Geroge.W.Bush; that blood circulates along veins, that fire, ligthings, thunders, floods, illness, are not result of the bad mood of any sobrenatural entity, and have all any scientific explanation. Most of this people were punished with death in the bonfire or other torture ways because doubting about those ideas that kept the God enterprise. So, let me say that, as religion insist in taking part of the public life, instead of keeping as a personal choice, then religion must stand critics, as any other human creation. Because people, only people, must be respected. But no ideas. Ideas can be be good or bad, useful, or useless, but are not worthty of respect. And this is from my brother (and I share his opinion): Three thing: Fisrt of all, the "infamious" images (I dont find them so terrible, maybe terrible drawed) http://www.humaneventsonline.com/sarticle.php?id=12146 Second, a webpage where you can upload your own pictures about the profect that dont like pigs but adoctrinate them: http://drawmohammed.com Third: a page about the image of Muhammad along history. Muslims themselves have drawing him many times, and it is no the first time that a humoristic comic about him have been drawing, so, why this hysteria? http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/ Religions uses to be a headache, and the muslim one is at the top assache from some years to the present because they are scaring us. One thing is respect muslim people as human being and other thing is respect they shitty ideas and their way of doing things. And I dont admit anybody calling me racist or whatever if they cannot explain me any reason for burka (that clothes that women are forced to wear), death penalty for homosexuals or women that are unfaithfull to their husbands, Afganistan returning to pre-industrial era in the few years of a muslim goverment, killing inocent civilians workers at NY, Madrid or London in the name of Alah ... Now that Catholic church admit many scientific advances and let the society works with little interference, comes those muslims trying to return to the Middle ages. If they have no sense of humour they can come, get down on their knees, and suck our ...!!!
@looseleaf. If "the west" would riot every time "the muslims" printed or aired stuff that is offending to "The west". ... We'd NEVER get anything done but riot. Kinda like what "the muslims" do at home.
Mullahs [supposedly an UNpaid clergy. Well, is POWER and CONTROL a wage?] are busy inciting a race war [and too, News Journalists here, in the West]. I dunno why they wanna do that. The west ain't too happy about that, but they got the ships, they got the guns, they got the monay too. It will be sad havin to watch Rights and Freedoms thrown out the door. It will happen if the Mad Mullahs [and the News Journalists] have their way, get what they want: Rights and freedoms will go out the door and a holocaust will happen which would make Hitler, Stalin and Mao look like rank amatuers. I ain't lookin forawrd to the young couple who lives down the street being dragged away to an extermination camp just because they read the words of The Prophet. I fear it is gonna happen though. I fear the West will tire of savages knocking at the gates and will simply destroy them. Which is a thing Rome couldn't do. We can. Soon, we won't be able to. The Mad Mullahs have declared that, along with raving, rioting and rocket attacks, the "Muslim world" [read Iranian Mullahs] wish to have nukes now. Mr bush and his cronies talkin about using limited nuclear attacks in their "War On Terror?" Ya think it was a misquote? We got two directions [I think] we can go. Accomodation or Holocaust. And ya know, if ya read yer history, it wasn't possible to accomodate Jihadis in the Old Days. Is it now possible?
The problem is that some jurnalists try to exercise a freedom of speech. They have the right to do it. Imagine a person standing at the edge of a skyscraper that says "I am a free person, no height will scare me" and then he jups down. Some would call him a brave idealist but most of us would call him just stupid. The jurnalists made a bit different thing. They had stood at the edge of the mentioned skyscraper and they shouted "We are free, we are not afraid of heights, (not to mention we will get paid for it)" and... they havent jumped but instead made whole nations jump. Some would call them brave idealists but some would call them hypocrites. Its like going down after the stupid con to show him just how good pilot U are and then getting pinged by 4 of his firends and ending in flames or rather making whole your squad go down. The jurmalists not only insulted a whole religion but endengered milions of people and called it a right to free speech. I cant say if it is plain greed or stupidity. But I have some other hypothesis. The chance is that the whole thing is a Jewish or American conspiracy becouse I cant imagine what other group would benefit from heating hatrede betwean Europe and the Muslims.
Imagine a person who went to a school that uses one single text book. Imagine that person being taught not to argue. Imagine that person being told to hate, that hatred is virtuous as long as he only hates Those Who Sin. Imagine that person standing on top of a high tower quoting something from his ONE SINGLE BOOK HE EVER READ. And then jumping. Some would call him stupid. Some would call him ignorant.
The approach is the problem... I don't think a society of many books can come along with such with one only. Either they will start to read other books (as we try to convince them) or they will convince us, that we don't need all of ours. Or both as it was the case during the Crusades. The situation was opposite during late medieval ages. Europe was a society of one book, while Islam was the leading culture. We tried to forcefully convince them to read the one book of ours, the result was such, that they've stopped reading other books and invented "Jihad" instead. For europeans the effect was called rennesaince- the Church has lost the power it once possesed, cause people started to study what they've brought from libraries in Palestine and southern Spain (Alhambra for example). If the history had to repeat itself (which I already see coming, as more and more radical leaders [vide mr. Bush in the U.S.] are coming to power on our side) the Islamists would finally learn to read again... but we would be doomed, not by them, but by our own fear and xenophobia. The pictures of the Danish newspaper are not harmfull to the Islam, as there are few in Islamic countries who will ever see them. They're harmfull for us, cause they spread the phobia (and the leaders behind the rioting islamic crowds do well know what they do- by organizing such demonstrations they do not express their disgust with the pictures, they are trying to convince us, that we should fear them). The more Islam will suffer from our backward leaders (mr.Bush and his British "puppy" in the first place) the more popular their extremists will be among their people and less probable the compromiss between the cultures will become. They will not doom our culture, because they have nothing to offer in exchange nor the means to forcefully force such change... we will do that ourselves only because we will fear them. I think that their leaders are aware of that fact and such idiotisms as the National Security Act, or the recent tapewire affair in the U.S. do recieve a warm applause "on the other side of barricade".
And you post your lack of comprehension, wave it around like a flag: I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND Why announce you didn't 'get it?' Go to the back of the class, find a spare seat, and sit down. After twenty more people reply with, "I cant get what is your point realy" it will do nothing but confirm my opinion that [deleted] I know a guy who can't read. he is 46 years old and has succesfully deceived his employer and co-workers, friends and nieghbours for many many years. He has to go to INCREDIBLE lengths, he has to plan sometimes MONTHS ahead so he can weasel his way out of handling some important document or other, like "St John's Workplace First Aid" [mandatory on the job site] and God knows how the fuckin guy got his Air Brakes Ticket. All the effort he spent fuckin around he would have been better served toilin in a fuckin Adult Education Center [free, cost nothing around here, just some time] and learnin to read, but instead, he perfected the art of lying and deceit. If he knew how to read, all the con games he has practiced would serve him in good stead as a Cheque Forger or Email Spammer. No, q, he isn't like you. I dunno why I even thought of him when thinkin of your "I cant get what is your point realy." OH, okay, I think I got it now. YOU told the truth. My buddy would just lie and nod his head with pretended understanding. No, I won't re-write it. I already am addressing a pretty low common denominator here. [it is STILL rainin outside]
The radical Islamists must have already won you over. After all, you are mindlessly blaming the U.S. for your problems. If you watch the videos on that website, you will see that my statements hold true for the entire leftist protest culture.
Your reply did not amaze me... after all the only thing you can write under NSA rule are those which do not criticize your Govt. My point was, that today's western societies are becoming more and more hermetic towards any signs of difference. Tollerance and freedom of speech are giving it's way to radicalism and censorship. They did not win me over... they won you and others. I'm the one resisting, you're the one ready to give back your basic rights for a mere illusion of internal safety. Fight with humor and wit and you will win allies, one who prefers to fight with guns does only make more enemies.
JP published those images because its editor thought that West has developed a "self-censorship" towards Islam. Apparently he was right, since US media won't dare to publish them, most of diplomats/politicians are asking JP to apologize, and even you state that "they did wrong" You really don't think that declaring "jihad" because of the pictures isn't over reacting? If this incident leads to situation where islam is "sacred" and is not to make fun of, what next? No "uncle-sam" jokes? No pictures of fat spanish? No jokes about swedish? No jokes about people with diseases/handycaps? Who draws the line? He who yells the loudest?
