CNN will not show the Danish cartoons out of respect for Islam.
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… In other news, objectionable depictions of Christ is considered free speech!
Below is a copy of the email I sent to CNN about the 12 Danish cartoons that is pissing every radical Muslim off right now.
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I am shocked that CNN would refuse to show the caricatures of the Islamic profit Mohammed out of respect for Muslims. Anytime a derogatory picture of Christ or Christianity is shown it is because of free speech. Why the dichotomy?
As a Christian I am shocked, but as a communications student at a major American university I am even more shocked. I am shocked that the producers of CNN are not willing to be journalists. Journalism means sometimes you have to report areas that are uncomfortable. Bowing to the Islamic extremists’ desires will only inflame the extremists into thinking that they are winning and that violence DOES work.
Most people are appalled at the extremists cutting off of heads of innocent civilians. Most people are appalled at Muslims killing other Muslims when the religion is supposed to be a religion of peace. Most people are appalled that the American media, in the land of free speech, is too scared to publish some cartoons that will offend some people.
My congratulations go to the Danish journalists in refusing to let terrorism erode freedom of speech. My condemnation goes to the American media and CNN who are hiding behind political correctness on this issue.
By NOT showing the caricatures CNN is only aiding a culture of destruction and turning a deaf ear to both Christians and moderate Muslims.
The terrorists have won. Evidently violence and intimidation do work.
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February 3rd, 2006 at 9:58 pm
I have a completely different take on this. I applaud the journalists for volunteering to withhold the images, personally. I am not Muslim, nor am I Christian. I don’t subscribe to any single world religion, actually. But I do respect the fact that images of Mohammed and Allah are forbidden in Islam, and I can understand the Muslim protest of the cartoonist’s flagrant disrespect of their religion. I applaud the Muslims who have spoken out against the publication of the images in a peaceful manner; I also worry that the publication of the images may spur the more radical factions to retaliate against the Danes.
I think the most reasonable response I have heard so far comes from the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who strongly denounced the publication of the cartoons, but also laid some responsibility on radical Muslim factions for tarnishing the peaceful reputation of Islam. Unfortunately, it’s popular for us Westerners to equate terrorism with Islam (as the final statement in this rant illustrates) and, in my opinion, the Danish cartoons only perputuate this misguided stereotype.
For those who wish to view the cartoons, it’s not necessary for CNN and other Western news outlets to republish them. A quick Google Image search will satisfy any curiosity.
February 6th, 2006 at 10:29 am
I agree with Stace. If Christians such as yourself firmly believed that images of Christ were forbidden, how would you expect major media outlets to respond if a foreign newspaper printed derogatory cartoons of him? Before you say “but they do post derogatory cartoons all the time!”, consider that Christ’s image is freely available in Christian societies. Mohammed’s is not.
There’s a difference between freedom of speech and journalistic integrity. As a communications student in a major American university, I imagine that you will soon learn this and hopefully benefit from it. Calling Muslims “terrorists” is a sweeping and offensive generalization, which could be one of the reasons why CNN has chosen not to make these cartoons available. Why make a bad situation even worse?
February 9th, 2006 at 5:18 pm
You know what is missing in almost all posts and mainstream media stories about the Danish cartoons - context. Yes, our wonderful media in the West has the memory of a goldfish. All we seem to hear is how Muslims are offended. And you know what? They should be. The difference is that a moderate Muslim will shake their head and a radical Muslim will cut your head off! GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD PEOPLE!!! We are not dealing with rational people here who value human life. We are dealing with the radical fringe of a religion that thinks by killing you they get into heaven.
Mysteriously, this radical fringe seems to be concentrated in the Middle East. Which brings me to a personal observation. Have you ever heard of a Muslim controlled country where Christians and Jews do not fear for their life? Really? Before you answer that, let me just say that all you arm-chair philosophers and self proclaimed peace activists cannot answer that question. Seriously. If you have never been to the Middle East, fought in Iraq, or lived in the culture, then shut up. No…really shut up!
I got out of the Marines in 2000 and luckily I never had to go to Iraq. Instead all my friends I left behind did. They came back just horrified that other human beings could do that to each other. I listened to their first-hand accounts of what they saw; men shooting at the U.S. troops and hiding behind their women, Iraqi kids getting mowed down by Muslim radicals because they were in the way, honor killings, and countless other acts of utter disregard for human life.
I want you to notice that I said “first-hand” accounts. These are not stories culled from the web or just made up. These are first hand observations that reporters just don’t seem to cover.
In the interest of fairness, not all Muslims are that way. According to my friends, most in Iraq are not the radical bomb-toting stereotype. They just want to go to work and raise their families just like you and I. They dislike the American presence, but the HATE the insurgents. Many are scared to say or do anything because their head might come off along with all their families’ heads. The terrorists are still in control in Iraq. Most Muslims hate the radicals and are sick of them proclaiming to be the voice of Islam.
Maybe we could use these cartoons for something good. Maybe we should publish them everywhere and when the radicals come out to kill people and destroy property – kill them. That’s right kill every single radical that shouts, “death to the West” and pro 9/11 chants. Maybe then the moderates could take their own religion back and keep their own head.
Yes, I know that is a radical idea, but as I stated we are not dealing with rational people. Desperate times call for desperate measures. If you have cockroaches, you call an exterminator – then guess what, no more cockroaches.
Now, if most of you who are reading this are steaming mad, then good. You should be. You have a right to agree or disagree with anything I say. You DO NOT have a right to shut me up and I DO NOT have a right to shut you up. You especially DO NOT have a right to threaten my life or any body else’s life for that matter.
At the beginning of this rant I promised some perspective and context to all this, so here it is. Maybe after reading about the brutal public murder of a Danish filmmaker and the last article I listed you can get some context to the whole uproar.
2-11-04 – Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh killed
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/netherlands/dut041102
7-26-05 - Van Gogh killer jailed for life
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4716909.stm
2-05-05 - Reason for the Dutch cartoons —(THIS IS A MUST READ)
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/02/05/we_are_all_danes_now/
Lest you forget the recent past , the radical fringe of Islam did the following:
• 07 Aug 1998 - U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya
• 12 Oct 2000 - bombing of U.S. Cole
• 11 Sept 2001 – ( 3000 Americans dead - Nuff said)
• 12 Oct 2002 – bombing in Bali
• 11 March 2004 - bombing of Spain train station
• 07 July 2005 - bombing of subway in England
And this is just a list of the big attacks that killed more than a few people. I am not listing the attacks where just a few people are killed because the list would be too long.