cartoons

[merchimerch]

I want to chime in on the whole cartoon/Islam thing. I really see both sides. People should be respectful of one another - that is what it comes down to for me. People should not print incindiary things (even if it is their constitutional right to do so), and people should not incite riots over incindiary things. What scares me is that I've heard that when this first came out in the Danish press, a group of upset clerics wanted to take a meeting with the editors of the paper and were refused. If that piece of heresay is true, this is even sadder than it seems.

The bottom line for me is that people are being killed over cartoons. That is a huge tragedy no matter who you side with.

Comments

[ame-chan.livejournal.com]

I see both sides too. I really get the press saying "You can't dictate what we print." because truly, a free press is too important and if we start bowing to various groups and letting them determine what makes it into print, then we're screwed. (Not, of course, referring to Faux News who is already screwed.)

I also see the point of the clerics and the people whose religion this is. I cannot believe that the leaders of Israel would tolerate cartoons about Jews or the Holocaust either. Only difference is, we'd all nod in horror and be pissed if it were a cartoon about the Holocaust. This current situation gets lumped into, "Oh those whacky Muslims." and that's plain wrong. Total double standard.

It's totally sad that it has developed to the point where people are being killed for this.

[merchimerch.livejournal.com]

its a really interesting paradox - the right to free speech/press is so important, but the right to avoid religious persecution is also very important, and I think that the Muslim community feels persecuted by a lot of things in the West.

I totally agree that if this were about the holocaust that people would be incensed (and rightly so), unfortunately now with the deadly riots, we have one more example of "those wacky Muslims" and once again extremists become iconic for an entire religion (ironically that is just what the cartoons were poking fun at, at least the ones that I saw).

It's a horrible situation.

[donaithnen.livejournal.com]

I'd like to think though that although lots of people would think similar cartoons about jews or the holocaust would be in bad taste there wouldn't actually be widespread riots about them. There's certainly nothing wrong with the "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" attitude.

[donaithnen.livejournal.com]

Now they're arguing about whether earlier cartoons about jesus were turned down by the same newspaper because they were offensive or because they just weren't any good.