Kofi Annan spoke out against the free press on Thrusday. His message, Freedom of Speech Carries Responsibility, however the subtext was "don't piss off Muslims", which sounds a lot like appeasement to me. Annan said, “It is insensitive, it is offensive, it is provocative, and they should see what has happened around the world”, he added the caveat “I am not against freedom of press”. However, the reality is – he words are carrying the meaning that we should not publish something that might offend others. I hate to use the slippery slop argument, but if we cannot satirize Mohammad today, do we stop satirizing the UN tomorrow?
Annan also missed the whole concept of democracy in his attack on freedom of the press. In a democracy, every citizen has the right to draw a cartoon or otherwise criticize any issue under the sun. If I want to say that perhaps Islam and the person who founded the religion prefer to resolve important issues with bombs and guns, then, it is my right to do so.
One other thing – drawing or depicting Mohammad may be a mortal sin in Islam, to a non-Muslim, it means nothing. To an atheist like me, well it makes me scratch my head.
See the cartoons for yourself here.
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1 comment:
Very good point. Particularly concerning in my opinion is the fact that the cartoons caused no problem when published in Egypt 4 months ago...
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