Showing respect is "cowering"? That is really insecure.
Even on the terms of the editorial itself I find it hard to be upset. On one hand we have the the general acceptance of defamation and borderline pedophilia, on the other uncouth and outmoded honour and unreproachable symbols. Obviously it is our holy mission to desensitize the other side.
Source? As a muslim, I have never heard about this.
Tradition holds that he was exceedingly overbearing with his persecutors, the most notable example being forgiving the persons who killed his pregnant daughter while fleeing Mecca, after they came into his hands as captives.
(Note that it doesn't matter if you believe the historical record, only that this is the ideal that Muslims hold themselves to.)
Your criticism misses the mark, as I don't actually defend the violent reaction to the cartoons and have said as much.
Also, this was never about questioning, as much as about the intention. You may or may not be aware that the newspaper solicited the cartoons, challenging the artists to make them as inflammatory as possible. It was a political and commercial stunt under the guise of a moral battle, making the whole thing even more despicable.
For the record I totally agree with you. Being a minority with a relatively short history in the West, Muslims should certainly carry themselves with fitting humility. Indeed, there is extensive basis in Islam for this.
Many understand that. Then again, many are malcontents, uneducated, unemployed and so on. This does not excuse wrongdoings, but it goes some way to explain it. And the solution, from society's point of view, and assuming we actually want a solution, is not to tease the wounded animal just to prove a point.
I am a Muslim. I created a new account, as some will hold that against me.
This is just picking on someone who is too weak, uneducated and inarticulate to be able to defend themselves.
Fuck freedom of speech, it's not what this is about. You don't have, and never had, the right to slander someone in order to pick a fight. If I went to a bar, found the biggest and dumbest asshole in there and called his mother a filthy whore, guess how much sympathy I would get in court. Yet this is exactly what the newspaper did, in order to demonstrate how "choked by fear" we all should be.
The fact that the guy has to fear for his life is ridiculous, but what does that prove? That large part of Muslim populations are insecure and hypersensitive? They are also predominantly impoverished, uneducated and downtrodden, not to mention constantly in the crosshairs, perhaps things are connected? Treating individuals like this with a bit of sensitivity would be the civilized thing to do, rather than prodding them for a cheap thrill, or childishly insisting on the injustice of their uncouthness.
I am so sick of the hysteria, grandstanding and hypocrisy in this debate.
Even on the terms of the editorial itself I find it hard to be upset. On one hand we have the the general acceptance of defamation and borderline pedophilia, on the other uncouth and outmoded honour and unreproachable symbols. Obviously it is our holy mission to desensitize the other side.