French Paper Offices Bombed Over A Joke

[Strike For The South]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15550350

The weekly had said it would publish a special edition on Wednesday to "celebrate" the Ennahda party's election victory in Tunisia and the transitional Libyan executive's statement that sharia law would be the country's main source of law.

Ho hum, Another day at the office I suppose.

[Papewaio]

Fire bombing because of satire. Extremists really don't have a sense of humor.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Fire bombing because of satire. Extremists really don't have a sense of humor.

I'd say lacking a sense of humour is a prerequisite for extremism.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Nations function best in their natural, homogenous state.

This is what happens when you open the floodgates.

[Viking]

If they really don't want anyone to mess with their prophet, then should let the prophet handle this issue himself. The way they are doing things now, they make their favourite prophet look weak.

I'll mess with whatever prophet that does not bring down smiting lightning from some almighty god.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Nations function best in their natural, homogenous state.

This is what happens when you open the floodgates.

The problem is when we, as a culture, do not stand up to extremists in every way. To me, one of the most shaming incidents of the western press recently is when nearly every paper backed down from reprinting the Mohammed cartoons from Denmark. It showed the extremists that violence could get them what they wanted.

The paper needs to continue this joke and make it bigger.

CR

[Gregoshi]

The paper needs to continue this joke and make it bigger.

It would increase prophets too.

[Fragony]

Fire bombing because of satire. Extremists really don't have a sense of humor.

Who says these were extremists

[Major Robert Dump]

Why would you make Mohammed the Editor in Chief? He does not have the qualifications.

[Papewaio]

Well he was involved in a best seller.

[CountArach]

Not even a good joke... unlike Gregoshi's fine display above

[Hax]

As of writing this, there have been bombing attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq as well, and long before any planes were hijacked, Islam itself was hijacked by its own followers.

Yes, this is a disgusting act, and I would fully support the extradition of the perpetrators to say, Saudi-Arabia. However, there is a great risk that we will alienate Muslims who go about their lives in a relatively normal way. I'm not saying these kinds of papers or satirical cartoons will lead to radicalisation, but if we insist on blaming Islam (and thus, logically following, all of its adherents) radicalisation will at least become more attractive to younger Muslims.

Blame Wahhabism, blame Salafism for all you like (I know I will), but blaming all of Islam? Unwise as it will only lead to further radicalisation.

[Fragony]

Who's blaming the whole of Islam? I blame a completely misguided respect for the whole of Islam. Why do you think we can get away with this http://blog.balder.org/billeder-blog...ring-Aisha.jpg (appeared in HP-de Tijd)

And in France they burn down stuff because of Mohammed with a clowns-nose. Because we disrespect Islam, they are used to it by now

[Hax]

Fragony, I think this is actually the first time you've made a post with which I completely agree.

[Furunculus]

i tend to agree with the telegraphs's resident lefty:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/to...ire-and-islam/

Nonetheless, in a world that has been getting safer, one religion is stubbornly holding on to a violent past. I'm not going to call for "ordinary Muslims" to denounce terror. They do, fairly regularly. But it would be nice to think that one day in the not-too-distant future we in the newspaper industry can make bad jokes about Mohammed as often as we do about Christ, without fear of brutal reprisals. In fact, the right note to end on is to congratulate Christianity worldwide for leaving its savage past behind: let's hope Islam can follow.

[rory_20_uk]

As of writing this, there have been bombing attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq as well, and long before any planes were hijacked, Islam itself was hijacked by its own followers.

Yes, this is a disgusting act, and I would fully support the extradition of the perpetrators to say, Saudi-Arabia. However, there is a great risk that we will alienate Muslims who go about their lives in a relatively normal way. I'm not saying these kinds of papers or satirical cartoons will lead to radicalisation, but if we insist on blaming Islam (and thus, logically following, all of its adherents) radicalisation will at least become more attractive to younger Muslims.

Blame Wahhabism, blame Salafism for all you like (I know I will), but blaming all of Islam? Unwise as it will only lead to further radicalisation.

Sorry, but one then ends up at the point of doing things to ensure that no one person or group is alienated. Feminists would rather that all pornography was utterly scrapped. yet we don't. Why should an imported religion be any different?

[Major Robert Dump]

What's funny is that it was actually not meant as in insult, but it shows the papers naivette by thinking that a good intentioned joke would be taken well. The "no depiction" of mohammed is not even a Koran thing, it came later in other writings.

That being said, if it happened in the US my first blame would go to rednecks who took the joke seriously, and thought the newspaper had hired a muslim.

[Andres]

It would increase prophets too.

ROFL

[Hax]

Sorry, but one then ends up at the point of doing things to ensure that no one person or group is alienated. Feminists would rather that all pornography was utterly scrapped. yet we don't. Why should an imported religion be any different?

Do we blame women for feminism?

The "no depiction" of mohammed is not even a Koran thing, it came later in other writings.

I don't think that's entirely true. The Qur'an states several things concerning images and idols but doesn't explicitly ban them. However, the strong emphasis on aniconism is a relatively new phenonemon, dating to around the 19th century and has also expressed itself in the demolition of some of the oldest sites of Islam (including the mosque of Abu Bakr and the graves of several of the ahl al-bayt).

[Major Robert Dump]

I just think Islam would fare a lot better if they would ditch the later writings and stick to the Koran. Most Christians don't adhere to books subsequent to the Bible, who were these yahoos that came along 100s of years later and decided to made addendums to the koran?

Although not a Christian, I am a huge fan of hairy chested, Tom Selleck Jesus always reaching his hands out to the viewer. It's very effective, although it did wierd me out when I masterbated in my Grandmas guest room. It has done wonders for the religion. Muslims need to adopt something similar, a strapping Moahmmed with a 5 oclock shadow, a prominant package and not at all overweight.

[Vladimir]

You just went to a very dark place. We need to party.

[rory_20_uk]

Women don't get "blamed" for feminism, but nor are the views of feminists pandered to at the expense of everyone else. The Koran should be the the uppermost book in the house. My copy is next to the bible on a middle shelf. To me it's just a book.

Those that don't want pictures then don''t purchase them and avoid them - don't destroy others' stuff.

[Major Robert Dump]

You should see my screenplay. It will probably get me killed

[Papewaio]

Why should an imported religion be any different?

So apart from the likes of Stonehenge and Druids aren't all the other religions imported in UK?

=][=

I agree that all should be subject to satire.

[Centurion1]

why is it perfectly acceptable to make a joke about Jesus or the christian god in poor taste but Mohamed who was merely a man is off limits. I'm sick of double standards.

[Viking]

Who says these were extremists

Because petrol bombs is not what the average person is up to. 2+2.

[Hax]

Everything should be subjected to satire. I think that's the key message here.

why is it perfectly acceptable to make a joke about Jesus or the christian god in poor taste but Mohamed who was merely a man is off limits. I'm sick of double standards.

So..what is your point? Nobody is arguing that we shouldn't satirise Islam.

[Rhyfelwyr]

So..what is your point? Nobody is arguing that we shouldn't satirise Islam.

I don't think they should satirise it in such a manner.

I guess it was supposed to be clever or funny or something but it wasn't. All it did was offend people, it didn't add anything to anything.

Honestly it feels like nowadays people take their liberties as a license to behave in the worst ways they can imagine.

Sure you can scream about your rights I'm not trying to take them away from you, but what happened to just choosing to be respectful?

Everything should be subjected to satire. I think that's the key message here.

I don't like this overly-competitive approach to the 'marketplace of ideas', where we are told to take a Darwinian approach towards beliefs so that only the strongest survive. As if we in the west have to brutally hack away at Islam until it either disappears or conforms to our own belief systems.

We should just chill out and respect others beliefs. Not because of the validity of the beliefs themselves, but because of the fact that they are held so dear to people.

Otherwise all this confrontation just alienates people.

Instead of always focusing on our right to be insensitive, why don't we just try being nice to people?

[Hax]

I don't like this overly-competitive approach to the 'marketplace of ideas', where we are told to take a Darwinian approach towards beliefs so that only the strongest survive. As if we in the west have to brutally hack away at Islam until it either disappears or conforms to our own belief systems.

Not Islam. Islamism and radicalism, perhaps, but not Islam.

We should just chill out and respect others beliefs. Not because of the validity of the beliefs themselves, but because of the fact that they are held so dear to people.

Not when these beliefs are in total opposition to our ideals. While the threat of Islamic radicalism in the West has often been overestimated, it is not something that should be left as it is. It is to be utterly beat down through intellectual debate and indeed, satire. It's what put the coffin in the nail of the religious monopoly on civil affairs during the Enlightenment, and to me, one of the most valued traditions here.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Not Islam. Islamism and radicalism, perhaps, but not Islam.



Not when these beliefs are in total opposition to our ideals. While the threat of Islamic radicalism in the West has often been overestimated, it is not something that should be left as it is. It is to be utterly beat down through intellectual debate and indeed, satire. It's what put the coffin in the nail of the religious monopoly on civil affairs during the Enlightenment, and to me, one of the most valued traditions here.

Hmmm. I think that Europeans are aware now that Islam(ists) are the only people who do this. Sure, the IRA blew stuff up, and were much better at it than European Muslims, but they were not really a religious group, they saw themselves as an indiginous resistence movements. These radical Muslims want nothing less than to destroy our civilisations, just because they hate it.

My conclusion is this: they should be ignored until or unless they become a genuine military threat, then they should be brutally suppressed. It is, frankly, incumbent on Muslims to mock these people as idiots just as it is incumbent on Christians to point out the logical and theological fallacies in Evangelicalism.