What would possess someone to do this....

[tkboxer]

After reading about the caricature cartoons of a religious prophet that were published in Denmark first I believe and then published throughout much of Europe I just had to ask myself...why? Why would someone want to do this? What were they thinking when they decided to insult someones religious beliefs? I think many things in this world are open for discussion, debate and even humor, politics for one comes to mind, but when you insult someones religion you are attacking their spirituality and that could hurt to the core of ones soul. I certainly would not want anyone disrespecting my religion and my spiritual beliefs, if you don't share my religion thats fine, even if you have no need for a God, thats fine....just don't disrespect mine.
Thats just human decency.

[J0nn0]

I'll agree with that,to a certain extent...........Whats happened to freedom of speech?How many times does the Christian religion,or Jewish,or Catholic religions have jokes told about them,or cartoons drawn of them?Millions of times i'd guess.
These people are taking it to extremes.Parading in London with banners saying "behead those who mock Islam" what is that all about?Don't you think that is taking it a little too far?Over a simple cartoon?
Burning flags,storming embassies.....seems like they want their religion treated differently to everyone elses.Religion accounts for more death and destruction in this world than anything else.Behaving like this over a simple,small cartoon is way over the top.There's no need for Muslims to act like this,to fuel the fires of religious violence.Yes,complain about it,demonstrate about it,but take it to those extremes.......nope,sorry theres just no call for it.
_________________
Reduce your carbon footprint...wear smaller shoes!!

[fatheralice]

I think it a sad day, when you can't poke fun at things - religion included.

One of my fav films is Life of Brian - but the chances of such a film being made nowadays look pretty slim.

Political correctness has gone too far - people should just relax, and tolerate each other, without worrying about offending a certain vocal minority.

That said, I think these particular cartoons went too far, and ,although I haven't seen them, I don't believe they were actually very funny, had they been so, then my opinion may be different.

None the less, the huge media scrum that has ensued has done no one any favours, and has just made a celebrity out of some cartoons that weren't any good, which would have been forgotten about in 5 minutes otherwise.

[fatheralice]

I should add that I think that anything that takes itself too seriously, religion included, is unhealthy and should be discouraged.

[phil6580]

Well said i could not agree more with fatheralice. There is even talk of banning stand up comics if they do not change their acts.

[hondaMC]

It's a bit strange that after the cartoon was published the islamist's wanted an apoligy, not only from the newspaper but also from the danish goverment because they allowed it to be printed. They seems to think that all newspapers are controled all over the world. I don't think that the danish goverment had any knowledge about the cartoon before it was printed so I can't see the reason why they should apoligy.

If a country have free press the goverment can't be held responsebly for what a newspaper prints.

One more thing that bothers me with this whole mess is that all of countries in scandinavia (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) is a target for the rage from these people.
In some countries they are burning flags from all three of these countries.

Finally I think that people can get along fine as long as you don't involve politics or religion bet unfortunelly that's not the case in the world today

[Seiji]

Yeah, I'm all for freedom of speech. But this was a tad bit irresponsible on the newspapers end. I mean, if you had a bomb tied to Jesus on the cross ... you'd have a few people upset. But just because you're offended, that doesn't mean you can go off the deep end and act totally psychotic and violent.

I saw them burning flags of Denmark, and heard reports of them chanting death to America. They're so extreme some of them, and it doesn't seem they'll be happy till Israel is blown off the map and the whole world is under islam and following the path of Muhammad. I think it's hopeless sometimes.

But I haven't seen the comic, so maybe I shouldn't even be giving an opinion, really.
_________________
http://www.myspace.com/animationjesus

[kylumi]

some very good points of view here.....................Please connect to this link and submit your image to the already mounting thousands of others....

http://www.werenotafraid.com


there is also a similar site for muslim and other religions.

[kylumi]

Protests over cartoons spark gunfire in Afghanistan



(2/7/2006)
By Daniel Cooney, Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan - NATO peacekeepers exchanged fire with protesters who attacked their base Tuesday in the second straight day of violent demonstrations in Afghanistan over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, Afghan officials said. One demonstrator was killed and dozens wounded.

In neighboring Pakistan, 5,000 people chanting "Hang the man who insulted the prophet" burned effigies of one cartoonist and Denmark's prime minister. And a prominent Iranian newspaper said it was going to hold a competition for cartoons on the Holocaust in reaction to European newspapers publishing the prophet drawings.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the West's publication of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons was an Israeli conspiracy motivated by anger over the victory of the militant Hamas group in the Palestinian elections last month. "The West condemns any denial of the Jewish holocaust, but it permits the insult of Islamic sanctities," Khamenei said.

The NATO troops, most of them Norwegian, fired on hundreds of protesters outside the base in Maymana after the demonstrators shot at them and threw grenades, said provincial Gov. Mohammed Latif. The protesters also burned an armored vehicle, a U.N. car and guard posts, prompting NATO peacekeepers to rush British reinforcements to the city.

Maymana Hospital said one protester was shot dead and six were wounded, while some 50 others were hurt by tear gas the peacekeepers used to disperse the demonstrators.

One Norwegian soldier was injured by a splinter from a grenade, while another was hurt by a flying rock. Two Finnish soldiers were also hurt, Sverre Diesen, the Norwegian military commander, told reporters in Oslo.

Diesen said two American A-10 attack aircraft were on their way to the city and that a German C-130 transport plane was on standby in case some troops needed to evacuated.

U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards said the world body's nonessential staff in Maymana were being driven from the city to an undisclosed location for security reasons.

The cartoons were first published by a Danish newspaper in September, then reprinted by a Norwegian newspaper last month, setting off violent protests against the two countries across the Muslim world. The cartoons have subsequently been reprinted in other media, mostly in Europe.

The drawings — including one depicting the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb — have touched a raw nerve in part because Islam is interpreted to forbid any illustrations of the Prophet Muhammad for fear they could lead to idolatry.

In the Afghan capital of Kabul, police used batons to beat stone-throwing protesters outside the Danish diplomatic mission office and near the offices of the World Bank on Tuesday. An Associated Press reporter saw police arrest several people, many of whom were injured.

Security had already been tightened in Kabul, home to some 3,000 foreign diplomats, aid workers and others. Police have set up barricades and peacekeepers have been on constant patrol.

More than 3,000 protesters threw stones at government buildings and an Italian peacekeeping base in the western city of Herat, but no one was injured, said a witness, Faridoon Pooyaa. Provincial administrator Asiluddin Jami said police fired warning shots to prevent the demonstrators from entering the buildings and the base.

About 5,000 people clashed with police in Pulikhumri town, north of Kabul, said Sayed Afandi, a police commander. There were no reports of injuries.

Police in about half a dozen other towns and cities across Afghanistan reported thousands of people protesting.

Demonstrations have been held across Afghanistan since last week, with the size of the crowds progressively swelling. On Monday, four people were killed and at least 19 hurt during clashes, including one outside Bagram, the main U.S. military base.

The protest in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar was the largest to date in that Muslim country against the prophet drawings. There were no reports of violence.

Chief Minister Akram Durrani, the province's top elected official who led the rally, demanded the cartoonists "be punished like a terrorist."

"Islam is a religion of peace. It insists that all other religions and faiths should be respected," he told the crowd. "Nobody has the right to insult Islam and hurt the feelings of Muslims."

The Iranian newspaper Hamshahri invited foreign cartoonists to enter its Holocaust cartoon competition, which it said would be launched on Feb. 13. The newspaper is owned by the Tehran Municipality, which is dominated by allies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is well known for his opposition to Israel.

Last year, Ahmadinejad provoked outcries when he said on separate occasions that Israel should be "wiped off the map" and the Holocaust was a "myth."

Elsewhere, China criticized newspapers for publishing the cartoons and appealed for calm among outraged Muslims. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said publishing the cartoons "runs counter to the principle that different religions and civilizations should respect each other and live together in peace and harmony."

Danish citizens were also advised to leave Indonesia, where rowdy protests were held in at least four cities Tuesday. Danish missions, which have been repeatedly targeted by protesters, have been shut because of security concerns, said Niels Erik Anderson, the country's ambassador to Indonesia.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said his government had temporarily closed diplomatic missions in Palestinian territories — where it shares a building with the Danish mission. He warned his citizens to be wary if traveling to the Middle East.

Media in both Australia and New Zealand have also published the images

[kylumi]

"...to kill one person is like killing the whole of mankind...And to give life to one person is like giving life to the whole of mankind"
The Holy Quran (5:32)

the theory is great but the reality is so far removed

[Jolly Roger]

Its always been the same

You can order a white coffee but not a black coffee

when I was a kid it was "baa baa black sheep and now its green" whos seen a green sheep

Some people were threatened with eviction for flying the English flag during Euro 2004

My eldest boys school does nothing for any major christian festival except christmas but stops to celebrate any thing for the major religions.
But then again for how long more are we going to be allowed to celebrate christmas for there was some areas in Englang that changed it to the festival of lights

We have to wear kid gloves when it comes to other races and culture while we have to step back and let us get walked over. Im not having a go about any ones race or culture but all this political correctness has gone way to far.

We are scared to live like English men in England

[Seiji]

I read a quote today that really hit home:

Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding: it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.

-Martin Luther King
_________________
http://www.myspace.com/animationjesus

[tkboxer]

[chaotic646]

I agree with freedom of speech and the newspaper's right to publish those cartoons. I also agree that the Danish govt. should not have to apologise for anything. But as the original poster said, it shouldnt have been done in the first place, just out of common courtesy and decency. But the Muslim people are taking it way overboard. You see Jesus and Christianity made fun of all the time on tv, movies, etc. but you dont see Christians threatening violence over it. I just dont understand why Muslims cant get along with anyone. It seems like a religion of hatred to me. Of course there are Muslims who are peaceful people and disagree with violence but I seriously think they are the minority.

[1Bullet]

[1Bullet]

Just wanted to update further a Muslim Cleric has now posted a one million dollar bounty for who ever kills the cartonist Jyllands-Posten.

As I said earlier this has gone way to far. The muslim community should show some tolerence, as that is what they are asking for from the rest of the world. I wasn't a bigot, before I knew of the cartoons, but now the Muslims Extremist are starting to get me a little p_ssed.

[DVDude]

What would happen if I used "that" cartoon as my avatar?

[form33]

THe motivations to draw something like this are not the issue for me. Anyone can decide to do anything they want, humans are capable of all sorts of things good or bad. For me it is not the one act that sparks interest, it is what the reaction is, and where we go from here. Do we accept this as free speach, do we condone it? That is what will define us, not one person's act.
_________________
Amy Saunders

[tkboxer]

[hondaMC]

[1Bullet]

[hyoogy]

To be honest i dont really care that the muslims were upset at this, they all squeal and shout that they are peace loving people then they go and blow up a couple of embassies. If you dont have a sense of humour where you are then go live somewhere else, i swear you will not be missed.