4 ms·

It is unfortunate that all muslims (including the non-radical ones) have to deal with disrespect toward their religion just because one radical group made a dea

by Tawheed 16y ago

It is unfortunate that all muslims (including the non-radical ones) have to deal with disrespect toward their religion just because one radical group made a death threat. To most muslims (the normal ones that this), we'd just say: "Hey, the most significant figure in our religion is so beautiful and amazing to us that we prefer not to have a physical depiction of him. We'd appreciate it if you respect this and respect our religion." I wonder if this cartoonist would pull the same publicity stunt if the radicals didn't exist and instead was faced with my simple message and request that I have for my religion. I wonder if South Park would try to still do a depiction if they were faced with my simple message and request instead of a death threat.

starkfist 16y ago
Anything is fair game for South Park. Mormons are some of the nicest people around and their religion was roasted in an episode.
- DannoHung 16y ago
  They were the only ones in heaven though.
einarvollset 16y ago
Here's the thing though; South Park wouldn't be doing a show with depictions of Mohammed if the original response to the Danish cartoons _hadn't_ been death threats/attacks/embassy burnings. I respect your view point, but mine is equally valid; that it's unfortunate that one of my core held beliefs, freedom of expression without fear for one's life, is disrespected by radical Muslims and spineless network chiefs alike.
- Tawheed 16y ago
  I agree, the radical groups are culprits for embracing violence in the name of a religion that is otherwise all about peace, and the spineless network chiefs are the culprits for taking advantage of this in exchange for higher ratings and chatter. Net-net, the people that actually care about the religion lose.
MartinCron 16y ago
Well said. It is unfortunate that a radical element can cause ill-will toward the larger body of moderate people. If I can't speak for anyone else, but if I were faced with "we prefer not to have a physical depiction of him" I would absolutely respect that, and find people who cross that line to just be obnoxious and mean-spirited. If the message is "If you draw the prophet you'll die, just as these other artists died" then it suddenly becomes meaningful social commentary about tolerance and speech in a free society and also becomes fodder for (cheap) humor like what they do on South Park. Seriously, people still watch South Park? In any case, it's very, very wrong that there are people in this world who consider being obnoxious and mean-spirited a capital crime.
Kadin 16y ago
I can't think of a religion that doesn't deal with disrespect from outsiders. Catholics? The Pope and his crazy hats. LOLpedophiles. Bad conspiracy theories. Basically everything Dan Brown has ever written. Gay priest jokes. Mormons? Magic underwear. The Angel MORONi. Multiple wives. The total hilarity and necessary suspension of belief required to buy that God buried a bunch of Additional Commandments in upstate New York. Jews? Don't even get me started. I can't think of any religion that doesn't "deal with disrespect." There are some that I'm not familiar enough with (Native American religions), but I'm 100% sure they've probably taken crap over it at times. You can ask that people respect your religion, and probably most people will, but some people just aren't going to. Because religions are, pretty much by definition, arbitrary and weird to people not involved in the religion. So then the question becomes, how do you want to respond to that disrespect? You can just ignore it, which is a pretty popular choice, or you can engage with the critics, which is pretty effective but probably tiring and obnoxious, or you can even invert it and be self-effacing and try to disarm them. Or you can flip the fuck out and start making death threats, maybe kill some people. But if you do that latter path, it's probably not going to do anything about the amount of disrespect -- it's going to make it much, much worse. Either Muslims will, as a group, figure this out, or we'll just continue to see this sort of needling forever. So, in response to your question, "I wonder if South Park would try to still do a depiction if they were faced with my simple message and request instead of a death threat," I think the answer is of course not. Because that would be boring. But as long as they continue to get death threats and other crazy, disproportionate responses, they're going to keep mocking. (Just like they're going to keep needling the Scientologists.)

by Tawheed 16y ago

starkfist 16y ago

Anything is fair game for South Park. Mormons are some of the nicest people around and their religion was roasted in an episode.

DannoHung 16y ago
They were the only ones in heaven though.

einarvollset 16y ago

Here's the thing though; South Park wouldn't be doing a show with depictions of Mohammed if the original response to the Danish cartoons _hadn't_ been death threats/attacks/embassy burnings. I respect your view point, but mine is equally valid; that it's unfortunate that one of my core held beliefs, freedom of expression without fear for one's life, is disrespected by radical Muslims and spineless network chiefs alike.

Tawheed 16y ago
I agree, the radical groups are culprits for embracing violence in the name of a religion that is otherwise all about peace, and the spineless network chiefs are the culprits for taking advantage of this in exchange for higher ratings and chatter. Net-net, the people that actually care about the religion lose.

MartinCron 16y ago

Well said. It is unfortunate that a radical element can cause ill-will toward the larger body of moderate people. If I can't speak for anyone else, but if I were faced with "we prefer not to have a physical depiction of him" I would absolutely respect that, and find people who cross that line to just be obnoxious and mean-spirited. If the message is "If you draw the prophet you'll die, just as these other artists died" then it suddenly becomes meaningful social commentary about tolerance and speech in a free society and also becomes fodder for (cheap) humor like what they do on South Park. Seriously, people still watch South Park? In any case, it's very, very wrong that there are people in this world who consider being obnoxious and mean-spirited a capital crime.

Kadin 16y ago

I can't think of a religion that doesn't deal with disrespect from outsiders. Catholics? The Pope and his crazy hats. LOLpedophiles. Bad conspiracy theories. Basically everything Dan Brown has ever written. Gay priest jokes. Mormons? Magic underwear. The Angel MORONi. Multiple wives. The total hilarity and necessary suspension of belief required to buy that God buried a bunch of Additional Commandments in upstate New York. Jews? Don't even get me started. I can't think of any religion that doesn't "deal with disrespect." There are some that I'm not familiar enough with (Native American religions), but I'm 100% sure they've probably taken crap over it at times. You can ask that people respect your religion, and probably most people will, but some people just aren't going to. Because religions are, pretty much by definition, arbitrary and weird to people not involved in the religion. So then the question becomes, how do you want to respond to that disrespect? You can just ignore it, which is a pretty popular choice, or you can engage with the critics, which is pretty effective but probably tiring and obnoxious, or you can even invert it and be self-effacing and try to disarm them. Or you can flip the fuck out and start making death threats, maybe kill some people. But if you do that latter path, it's probably not going to do anything about the amount of disrespect -- it's going to make it much, much worse. Either Muslims will, as a group, figure this out, or we'll just continue to see this sort of needling forever. So, in response to your question, "I wonder if South Park would try to still do a depiction if they were faced with my simple message and request instead of a death threat," I think the answer is of course not. Because that would be boring. But as long as they continue to get death threats and other crazy, disproportionate responses, they're going to keep mocking. (Just like they're going to keep needling the Scientologists.)