Responsibility

February 6, 2006 at 11:07 pm | In Hypocracy unmasked | 2 Comments

The newspaper that published the cartoons insulting and mocking the Prophet Muhammad has been defended by ardent supporters of free speech and free press.

But what if the newspaper, instead of being a showcase, was really a disingenuous, irresponsible, and two-faced media outlet instead? Would people still support them?

We’ll soon see. Because the following has emerged (via The Daily Background, via Technorati):

Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that have caused a storm of protest throughout the Islamic world, refused to run drawings lampooning Jesus Christ, it has emerged today.The Danish daily turned down the cartoons of Christ three years ago, on the grounds that they could be offensive to readers and were not funny.

In April 2003, Danish illustrator Christoffer Zieler submitted a series of unsolicited cartoons dealing with the resurrection of Christ to Jyllands-Posten. Zieler received an email back from the paper’s Sunday editor, Jens Kaiser, which said: “I don’t think Jyllands-Posten’s readers will enjoy the drawings. As a matter of fact, I think that they will provoke an outcry. Therefore, I will not use them.”

Now I actually think this was the right decision for a mainstream newspaper. But surely Muslims in Denmark, and around the world, deserve the same respect? Rather than depicting their Prophet as a murderer, a terrorist?

Of course, any violence towards any of these folks is deplorable. But while we rightly condemn the violence, we should also condemn the irresponsibility that leads to it.

2 Comments »

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  1. What you bring up (about the violence) is a very important point. I can’t tell you how important it is, really. I posted the entry which you found on Technorati (I love Technorati) on a forum board, and got an incredible amount of responses from people who assumed that I was defending violence (which I wasn’t– and of course you aren’t either).

    Comment by Arlen — February 7, 2006 #

  2. Arlen –

    Thanks for your comment. I agree. I run this and another blog – watchingjihadwatch.blogspot.com – and frequently get attacked by people who assume I am defending violence. I wholeheartedly am not.

    But it amazes me that people cannot see the difference between the ends and the means. If we want to condemn violence, lets do it properly – not by resorting, as some do, to further trampling on the rights of our fellow citizens, or inciting more hatred.

    Comment by hatinghate — February 7, 2006 #


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