I'm just tired of the whole bullsh**. There are just some people you can't reason with.
Not sure what the solution is to the problem... or if there even is a solution. But I'm just not interested in even trying anymore. Way too many crazies in this religion. ... and the scary thing is that we apparently have some right here in Canada.
Absolutely ridiculous. I hope there's a counter-protest organized (though I have a feeling it would attract a lot of unsavoury types).
Apparently, freedom of speech and expression only matters to these protesters when it's the thing they like that is insulted. It's perfectly fine when applied to others, but to them? Heaven forbid!
Where are these protesters when South park habitually lampoons Moses, Jesus, and any other number of religious figures? They made an entire episode dedicated to calling Mormonism dumb, ffs! I'm sure some of these people have seen the Simpsons. Where are their protests when Matt Groening makes God imitate Ned Flanders? Oh, right, the whole "freedom of speech doesn't mean disrespecting any Prophet!" farce is just a hypocritical charade to disguise what they really mean: my personal favourite Prophet got insulted -- I really don't care about those other religions, as evidenced by my total inaction whenever they are insulted -- and so I'm going to whine and complain in an attempt to make it seem like I'm not a hypocrtical religious nut job.
What a bunch of idiots. Personally, I think this whole attempt at a "reasoned" attack on freedom of speech is more dangerous than some random schmuck throwing rocks and trying to attack embassies over it.
You can bet CSIS has been monitoring this closely, probably with a few moles in the protests, even if Baird and Foreign Affairs are sitting on their duffs. These are the kind of events that can draw out the crazies (on both sides).
I know it's Wikipedia, but.... here's part of their explanation of blasphemy:
The Quran and the hadith do not mention blasphemy.[22] According to Pakistani religious scholar, Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, nothing in Islam supports blasphemy law.[23] Rather, Muslim jurists made the offense part of Sharia; the penalties for blasphemy can include fines, imprisonment, flogging, amputation, hanging, or beheading.[24] Muslim clerics may call for the punishment of an alleged blasphemer by issuing a fatwa.[25]
If true, blasphemy isn't even supported within Islam / the Quran. It was established within the rules of sharia.
I find this type of law outdated and out of touch with the evolutions of the human condition. The irony in this law is that is it didn't exist, it is likely many people wouldn't have been killed or injured in the last two weeks because of this cheap-ass YouTube movie that really shouldn't be getting the attention it has.
As well, I agree with HPLovecraft's point - where were all the Mormons rioting when South Park dedicated an entire episode to disrespecting Mormonism? Where there any violent reactions? I don't recall a single one anywhere.
Why can't religious people, no matter which one they follow, just pray for those that offend them? This world has a looooong way to go before we can all peacefully co-exist. That's my issue with religion - it doesn't evolve at the same rate as human evolution.
What people often forget is they want blasphemy laws against people who blaspheme against Islam, not against Jews or Christians.
The crap you see on TV in Arab nations is horrible, often shown to children depicting jews especially as about offensively as you can get.
The problem with the Arab nations is not only the manufactured outrage by those who seek to benefit from it politically, but that these people have only experienced theocracies and have no real understanding of free speech and a nation allowing offensive speech and in this case videos to be shown.
This is a clash of cultures, and we should do our best to stand our ground to defend speech, just this week a man in Greece was arrested for mocking a Monk, in GREECE of all places. Anti-blasphemy laws are us moving backwards in time, not reflective of a free society.
Just look at all our heated debates here with Christians, Jews, not one of them has threatened me with harm, even though we can get heated.
Its not our job to be silent and walk on egg shells with Islam, its their duty to grow up and join the rest of the modern world.
Interesting points brought up in this thread. I've already stated that I'm a Muslim and totally disagree with the violent reactions, but I don't think I(or any other Western Muslim) should be expected to speak out everytime against the actions of Muslims thousands of miles away. I spoke out against these Muslims in this thread, but I think that should be an individual choice and not something a Muslim living in the West feels he/she must do. I think sometimes people in the West expect Muslims here to say something whenever a Muslim does something anywhere in the world. I'm a Canadian, I don't think I should be expected to say anything when something happens in Libya,Egypt,etc.
As far as the freedom of speech debate goes, that's a tricky one. Every group of people has something they consider tabboo. For instance, holocaust denial is illegal in Canada and many other places in the world. Many American TV networks stopped showing the planes crashing into the WTC as they thought about the sensibilities of the American public. I don't know where the line is between freedom of speech and hate speech, but I think the argument that it is only Muslims who are offended and everyone else thinks that everything is fair game is a bit flawed in light of the examples that I've given.
For instance, holocaust denial is illegal in Canada and many other places in the world.
This is something that gets passed around in Muslim circles (I seen a video just today of Muslim protestors in downtown Toronto claiming it, actually), but it's not true. There is no actual law saying denying the Holocaust is illegal in Canada. There are laws, however, stating that looking to incite hatred or contempt or violence against an identifiable group is illegal. Holocaust denial tends to also be associated with attacks on the Jewish community as a whole.
For instance Ernst Zundel was prosecuted in Canada for hate crimes (not Holocaust denial) when he denied the Holocaust, but he also blamed the Jews for starting WWII and accused the Jewish community of sabotaging other communities through their "corrupt, organized forces." That's going well beyond simply denying the Holocaust, and is generally the reason people like this get prosecuted (as rare as it is).
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"An adherent of homeopathy has no brain. They have skull water with the memory of a brain."
This is something that gets passed around in Muslim circles (I seen a video just today of Muslim protestors in downtown Toronto claiming it, actually), but it's not true. There is no actual law saying denying the Holocaust is illegal in Canada. There are laws, however, stating that looking to incite hatred or contempt or violence against an identifiable group is illegal. Holocaust denial tends to also be associated with attacks on the Jewish community as a whole.
For instance Ernst Zundel was prosecuted in Canada for hate crimes (not Holocaust denial) when he denied the Holocaust, but he also blamed the Jews for starting WWII and accused the Jewish community of sabotaging other communities through their "corrupt, organized forces." That's going well beyond simply denying the Holocaust, and is generally the reason people like this get prosecuted (as rare as it is).
My mistake if there's no law in Canada. However, I know there are countries in Europe which have very specific holocaust denial laws. I travel to Romania quite a bit and they have a very specific law against holocaust denial. There was also a case of a british author who was jailed specifically for Holocaust denial. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4733820.stm
I do agree with the people who say that some Muslims are hypocritical in the sense that they only get angry when their beliefs are the target. I've myself heard Muslim speakers call the Bible "garbage". If you aren't going to speak out against that, you have no right to complain when your beliefs are targetted.
