Not everyone is crazy about the idea of "Draw Mohammed Day." Alas, there are those conservatives with a shallow understanding of Islam, who have never read a book on the subject. I've read about 14, including the Qur'an, so let me set these folks straight.
Ann Althouse said:
I don't like the in-your-face message that we don't care about what other people hold sacred. Back in the days of the "Piss Christ" controversy, I wouldn't have supported an "Everybody Dunk a Crucifix in a Jar of Urine Day" to protest censorship. Dunking a crucifix in a jar of urine is something I have a perfect right to do, but it would gratuitously hurt many Christian bystanders to the controversy. I think opposing violence (and censorship) can be done in much better ways.
Here's why you're wrong, Ann.
We DO care about "what other folks hold sacred." Especially when what they hold sacred is oppression, murder and terror. We care about it enough to OPPOSE it, because it erodes our personal freedoms and encourages fanatics to continue their threats of violence.
Muslims also hold the veil to be sacred, but I'll just bet Ann Althouse won't be shopping for a hijab anytime soon. (You're so insensitive, Ann.) Nor will she stop eating bacon for breakfast, nor will she get rid of her pet dog, nor stop listening to music, all of which "offend" Muslim sensibilities.
In any case, Ann, your argument is based on a false analogy. No one is threatened with death for portraying a picture of Christ. No one is threatened with death for dunking a crucifix in a jar of urine. Muslims, on the other hand, go ballistic over any depiction of Mohammed, even those that are respectful. It seems Muslims have many hair-triggers, all of which are easily detonated, often resulting in violence. They need a reality check to desensitize their more disagreeable practices. The "Draw Mohammed Day" is designed to do that, to punish bad behavior rather than accede to it.
Since Muslims hold murder to be "sacred," I do not intend to tread lightly around their sensibilities.
In my view, I am far more justified in being "offended" by Muslim practices and beliefs than they are justified in being "offended" by mine. I too have my triggers, but none of them is wired to a bomb.
Further, Muslims are sensitive about their "prophet," one of the most evil men who ever lived. He was a terrorist, a thief, a mass murderer, a pedophile a rapist and a liar. The "religion" he started has killed around 280 million people since its inception. It killed 3,000 people on 9/11 and adds to its grisly toll daily. Islam murders people for being gay, for changing their religion, for refusing to convert. It stones women to death for sex, genitally mutilates young girls, practices "honor" killings against children (mostly daughters) for acting "too western," for falling in love, or for refusing to marry the schmuck the family has chosen for them.
For Muslims, even those who live here in America, murder is often an acceptable practice. There have been a number of honor killings carried out against daughters, and one Muslim beheaded his wife for seeking a divorce. Recently I read on Red State how a Muslim grandmother smothered her 2 year old granddaughter to death, after learning the child was born out of wedlock. Oh yes, let's be polite to Islam, a religion that turns human beings into monsters!
Islam is an evil ideology that obliterates freedom, murders great masses of innocent people in the name of God, and oppresses those who are forced to live under it. I am deeply offended by the beliefs and practices of Islam every day and so I really DON'T CARE if my depictions of Mohammed offend any Muslims.
Second rebuttal coming up, this one for Smitty of The Other McCain. Smitty writes in a comment at American Power:
Saberpoint is also getting rather crazy with the cheeze-whiz. It's important to note that political correctness, not Islam as such, is the target here.
See my comments to Ann Althouse, Smitty. They apply to you too.
In any case, you are incorrect. It isn't merely "political correctness," a form of self-censorship based on fear of social ostracism, that is in play here. It is MURDER and COWARDICE. Muslim murder, which is a daily occurrence, and western cowardice in failing to oppose it within our own borders. Perhaps I should also add Western IGNORANCE, a failure to understand the history, beliefs, goals and practices of Islam. No offense, Smitty, but I think you may fall into this latter category.
I oppose Islam for the same reasons that Geert Wilders and Laurence Auster oppose it, because it is incompatible with western democracy and pluralism. It is a time bomb that will eventually destroy our way of life. Your great grandaughter, Smitty, probably has a veil in her future.
SATIRE is an appropriate and effective response to Muslim extremism. Yid With Lid recently had an article on that very subject. Muslims welcome death, so do not fear guns and bombs. But they have no way of dealing with satire and they greatly fear it. It is a potent weapon against Islamic tyranny and I intend to use it, "cheese-whiz" or not.
