I will defend to the death bla bla bla, but this whole Muhammad pictures thing makes me think of Flann O'Brian's remark that blasphemy is either pointless or too dangerous.
I am mindful of the fact that the brouhaha is over what amounts to a bad Ziggy cartoon. It's a bad sign when you have to label the guy "Muhammed" to be sure you're blaspheming. (Also, wouldn't it be much funnier without the hand-lettered STOPs?)
...and now, thanks to the article I linked to, I am not convinced this is an image of Mohammed at all. I think this is an image of a random imam that someone has written "Muhammed" on. Does that, in fact, make this blasphemy? How do we know it's not a picture of Jens Julius, which just happens to have the word "Muhammed" on it? If I wrote "Muhammed" on a $1 bill, would that turn Washington into an idol?
This is all so silly. All the images are here (http://www.di2.nu/files/Muhammed_Cartoons_Jyllands_Posten.html).
Exactly. The French don't believe in freedom of religion, really. They believe in separation of church and state, which is not the same thing. They believe that, as long as the state doesn't endorse one religion over another, everything's hunky dory, even if that means all children going to public schools are equally oppressed.
There are pretty compelling historical reasons for their belief, of course, like the fact that French people spent lots of time killing each other over religious practices. They probably think it's better to have trouble being religious in public than it is to be dead...
Frankly that's ammusing .... gave me a good little chuckle.... though the title "Muhammed" isn't realy necessary...it would be just as funny if it was just a random Islamic guy...but what ever ... it's ammusing :)
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-02-02 07:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-02 08:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-02 08:29 pm (UTC)This is all so silly. All the images are here (http://www.di2.nu/files/Muhammed_Cartoons_Jyllands_Posten.html).
Ceci n'est pas un blasphème.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-02 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-03 02:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-02 07:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-02 10:21 pm (UTC)It's times like this, despite everything King George has done to fuck things up over here, that I'm proud to be an American.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-03 01:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-03 03:11 am (UTC)There are pretty compelling historical reasons for their belief, of course, like the fact that French people spent lots of time killing each other over religious practices. They probably think it's better to have trouble being religious in public than it is to be dead...
no subject
Date: 2006-02-03 12:28 am (UTC)