[CorsiHockeyLeague]

^ I don't think, on the requirements he's laid out, that there is a church or religion of any kind anywhere.

But the more important point is that he's said that X religious institution does not follow "Christian ideals". The obvious response is, "no, you just have a different notion of what constitutes 'Christian ideals'".

Originally Posted by MattyC

But I personally don't think that just drawing more cartoons of him is the right approach. I think you should parodying those that find it offensive enough to murder someone over it. And I know that this is their way of doing that, I just think it's the wrong avenue to take.

Okay, sure, an argument over the best way to criticise something is totally fine. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to take this path, you're just suggesting a better one. That's fine, I'd be willing to be convinced either way.

We should be trying to get to the point of "Wow, people are killing in the name of MY beliefs because they made fun of our prophet? That's completely ridiculous." instead of "Look, they're making fun of our prophet, I guess we should renounce Islam." Because the second one doesn't work and isn't the end game. It's an attempt to eradicate Islam vs showing people of that mind why killing people over this is ridiculous.

Wait, how did we get here? If I draw a picture of the Prophet, I'm not doing it to suggest that Islam be eradicated. Again, as I said, I'm criticizing one particular doctrine. And even then, I wouldn't be as inclined to criticize that one (since there are others, like killing apostates, that are probably worse) if not for the punishment people seem to think is warranted.

No one should delude themselves into thinking that 1.5+ billion people can be talked into giving up their firmly held beliefs. Certainly not through satire. At least the immediate goal should be reforming the structure of the religion to either reject beliefs that are harmful (i.e. anything demonizing jews) or rejecting the idea that religious prescriptions should carry any punishment more severe than stern disapproval. If the response to drawing the Prophet was a statement from Muslim leaders that this is offensive and the corresponding outrage from Muslims without any resort to violence or calls for the execution of the cartoonist, it wouldn't be as big a problem.

Lets say you continually poke your brother to the point that he snaps and breaks your leg with a bat, obviously taking it way to far. Do you think it would be better to continue poking him to try and show him why he shouldn't have reacted so extremely, or to show him a video of his reaction so he can see how ridiculously over the top it was?

I think either is defensible. The analogy is a bit silly, but if you stop poking him, he has at least learned that if he breaks your leg with a bat, he can get what he wants. There is something to the argument that you should show that you won't be deterred by extreme reactions. But I'd prefer not to argue by analogy, and I am in any case open to other solutions.