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Freedom of speech vs "Blasphemy"
The case, as seen from all posible sides:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy
Some useful points, worth thinking about...
- Section 77 of the Constitutional Act of Denmark (1953) reads: “Any person shall be at liberty to publish his ideas in print, in writing, and in speech, subject to his being held responsible in a court of law. Censorship and other preventive measures shall never again be introduced.”
Meanwhile...
- Section 140 of the Danish Penal Code prohibits blasphemy.
- Section 266b of the Danish Penal Code prohibits expressions that threaten, deride or degrade on the grounds of race, colour, national or ethnic origin, belief or sexual orientation.
And...
- Most Islamic traditions forbid representations of Muhammad.
- The satirical nature of the drawings was not considered respectful, especially one that shows Muhammad with a bomb in his turban and therefore enforces the stereotype of Islam and terrorism.
- The drawings upset the Muslim community in Denmark at a time when relations between Muslims and mainstream society are strained.
- "In (the West) it is considered freedom of speech if they insult Islam and Muslims," columnist Mohammed al-Shaibani wrote...
- This cartoon from the Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad expresses the fear of many Muslims that the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy exemplifies growing Islamophobia in the West:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Arabcartoon.jpg
Double standard...
- A number of Muslim commentators, including Ehsan Ahrari of the Asia Times, have pointed at laws in Germany, France, Austria and seven other countries in Europe which explicitly regard the denial of the Holocaust as a crime, free speech considerations notwithstanding. They maintain that offensive imagery regarding the Jewish religion and the Jewish people is largely prohibited in the media in post-Holocaust Europe. The media in general practices self-restraint in this matter; nonetheless, Muslims allege that a different set of standards seem to apply for the Islamic faith.
Other side of the coin...
- In Iraq, the country's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani suggested that militant Muslims were partly to blame for distorting Islam's image.
- The Jordanian paper, Shihan, asked: "Who offends Islam more? A foreigner who endeavors to draw the prophet as described by his followers in the world, or a Muslim with an explosive belt who commits suicide in a wedding party in Amman or elsewhere."
- Some commentators have remarked on the polarisation of the issue, and the vested interests involved in that polarisation. For example, Tariq Ramadan, a member of Tony Blair's committee to combat Islamic extremism, sees an "unholy alliance" between the anti-immigrant right wing in Europe and the dictatorial regimes in the Middle East. Some seek to portray Muslims as enemies of Western values and incapable of integration in European society. At the same time various dictatorial regimes in the Islamic world seek to unite their populations behind them by creating external enemies, which they claim are attacking Islam. By polarising the issue these two groups have increased the division between Islamic and Western society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy
Some useful points, worth thinking about...
- Section 77 of the Constitutional Act of Denmark (1953) reads: “Any person shall be at liberty to publish his ideas in print, in writing, and in speech, subject to his being held responsible in a court of law. Censorship and other preventive measures shall never again be introduced.”
Meanwhile...
- Section 140 of the Danish Penal Code prohibits blasphemy.
- Section 266b of the Danish Penal Code prohibits expressions that threaten, deride or degrade on the grounds of race, colour, national or ethnic origin, belief or sexual orientation.
And...
- Most Islamic traditions forbid representations of Muhammad.
- The satirical nature of the drawings was not considered respectful, especially one that shows Muhammad with a bomb in his turban and therefore enforces the stereotype of Islam and terrorism.
- The drawings upset the Muslim community in Denmark at a time when relations between Muslims and mainstream society are strained.
- "In (the West) it is considered freedom of speech if they insult Islam and Muslims," columnist Mohammed al-Shaibani wrote...
- This cartoon from the Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad expresses the fear of many Muslims that the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy exemplifies growing Islamophobia in the West:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Arabcartoon.jpg
Double standard...
- A number of Muslim commentators, including Ehsan Ahrari of the Asia Times, have pointed at laws in Germany, France, Austria and seven other countries in Europe which explicitly regard the denial of the Holocaust as a crime, free speech considerations notwithstanding. They maintain that offensive imagery regarding the Jewish religion and the Jewish people is largely prohibited in the media in post-Holocaust Europe. The media in general practices self-restraint in this matter; nonetheless, Muslims allege that a different set of standards seem to apply for the Islamic faith.
Other side of the coin...
- In Iraq, the country's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani suggested that militant Muslims were partly to blame for distorting Islam's image.
- The Jordanian paper, Shihan, asked: "Who offends Islam more? A foreigner who endeavors to draw the prophet as described by his followers in the world, or a Muslim with an explosive belt who commits suicide in a wedding party in Amman or elsewhere."
- Some commentators have remarked on the polarisation of the issue, and the vested interests involved in that polarisation. For example, Tariq Ramadan, a member of Tony Blair's committee to combat Islamic extremism, sees an "unholy alliance" between the anti-immigrant right wing in Europe and the dictatorial regimes in the Middle East. Some seek to portray Muslims as enemies of Western values and incapable of integration in European society. At the same time various dictatorial regimes in the Islamic world seek to unite their populations behind them by creating external enemies, which they claim are attacking Islam. By polarising the issue these two groups have increased the division between Islamic and Western society.
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