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squarejawhero · 02-04-2006, 02:56 AM

Still, you have to admit, there is a hypocrisy in the Middle East right now with regards to how to treat people of different faiths and accepting criticism of their own. On one hand, their governments get insulted and indignant and cut off EU business' on this one issue, but on the other hand Iran is holding a conference about dismissing the Holocaust as a way for the Jewish peoples to gain pity.

This kind of thing only ever seems to go one way - the majority of hard line Islamic countries (Malaysia excluded) are fine demeaning other cultures but cannot tolerate any criticism or debate of their own. Many incidents of racial hatred against the Danes have occured because of this cartoon - and there is absolutely no excuse for that whatsoever. Bear in mind that in this case you cannot solely put the blame at the feet of a secular government who has no control over the media either, nor expect an apology from them. A lot of the "stepping-on-eggshells" reactions are actually making this situation worse and cowing down to certain elements who preach a perverted Islam that would rather see no secularist or alternative views whatsoever.

This, to my mind, should only ever be a question of respect for peoples beliefs of which one newspaper crossed the line... but some are intent on using this for their own moral crusade to draw that line thickly between "us" and "them" on both sides. As for moderate Islam, well, it's simply not a loud enough voice yet... until that happens, and Islam can be shown on a worldwide platform that it too can be a tolerant and respectful religion, then all we're going to see is the flag-burning loonies and gun-toting commandos.

The point's also been made now, the paper has issued an apology. But of course, now other newspapers are using this as an example of free speech... where do you stop?

02-04-2006, 02:56 AM	#8
squarejawhero Epinionated. Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: London Posts: 5,841	Still, you have to admit, there is a hypocrisy in the Middle East right now with regards to how to treat people of different faiths and accepting criticism of their own. On one hand, their governments get insulted and indignant and cut off EU business' on this one issue, but on the other hand Iran is holding a conference about dismissing the Holocaust as a way for the Jewish peoples to gain pity. This kind of thing only ever seems to go one way - the majority of hard line Islamic countries (Malaysia excluded) are fine demeaning other cultures but cannot tolerate any criticism or debate of their own. Many incidents of racial hatred against the Danes have occured because of this cartoon - and there is absolutely no excuse for that whatsoever. Bear in mind that in this case you cannot solely put the blame at the feet of a secular government who has no control over the media either, nor expect an apology from them. A lot of the "stepping-on-eggshells" reactions are actually making this situation worse and cowing down to certain elements who preach a perverted Islam that would rather see no secularist or alternative views whatsoever. This, to my mind, should only ever be a question of respect for peoples beliefs of which one newspaper crossed the line... but some are intent on using this for their own moral crusade to draw that line thickly between "us" and "them" on both sides. As for moderate Islam, well, it's simply not a loud enough voice yet... until that happens, and Islam can be shown on a worldwide platform that it too can be a tolerant and respectful religion, then all we're going to see is the flag-burning loonies and gun-toting commandos. The point's also been made now, the paper has issued an apology. But of course, now other newspapers are using this as an example of free speech... where do you stop? __________________ Starter of Thread Must Die.