A sad day for freedom of expression
I had hoped that my first post should be on a more cheerful issue, but I just can't keep my mouth shut any longer.
Fanatic muslims have for the past few days tried to dictate what Danes and Norwegians can and cannot publish in their news media. Trusted members of the Muslim community in both countries are shouting "racism" and calling for a ban on expressions against the prophet Muhammed and even Islam in general. It is not surprising that fanatical religious people feel this way. It is not that long ago the Catolic church were banning books, and the movie "life of Brian" was banned in Norway as late as 1984. But since then, dialogue and argumentation has won. I can say whatever I want and noone can harm or prosecute me for my opinions, no matter how stupid they may seem.
Now, with the publication of these drawings, the tide is again turning. Prominent politicians have all but said that they wish they could have stopped the publication of the Muhammed drawings. Professors, researchers and others claim that we should not criticise the prophet, as this might hurt the feelings of Muslims. Western societies have fought for the right to debate freely for hundreds of years, and now the very people who have benefitted from this right are speaking up on behalf of those who would rather we did not have the right to freedom of expression.
Personally I don't much care for the drawings being published. One should consider other people's reaction before publishing something. But the publication has turned out to be extremely important, as it clearly shows a great schism between the western and the muslim way of thinking. It seems almost impossible to reach an agreement between those who claim the right to speak freely and those who want to oppress oposing thought. But I do believe we can manage. A few hundred years ago, catholics attempted to crush all opposition by telling people what to think and how to live. Today catholic priests in Ireland are telling people to go out and think for themselves (interview in the travel program "Walkabout" on Norwegian TV).There is no reason why we shouldn't be able to accomplish the same with Islam. The least we need to aim for is to agree to disagree. hurting other people's feelings is not nice, but it is a lot less nice to tell fanatics that they don't need to live by the same rules as us.
Fanatic muslims have for the past few days tried to dictate what Danes and Norwegians can and cannot publish in their news media. Trusted members of the Muslim community in both countries are shouting "racism" and calling for a ban on expressions against the prophet Muhammed and even Islam in general. It is not surprising that fanatical religious people feel this way. It is not that long ago the Catolic church were banning books, and the movie "life of Brian" was banned in Norway as late as 1984. But since then, dialogue and argumentation has won. I can say whatever I want and noone can harm or prosecute me for my opinions, no matter how stupid they may seem.
Now, with the publication of these drawings, the tide is again turning. Prominent politicians have all but said that they wish they could have stopped the publication of the Muhammed drawings. Professors, researchers and others claim that we should not criticise the prophet, as this might hurt the feelings of Muslims. Western societies have fought for the right to debate freely for hundreds of years, and now the very people who have benefitted from this right are speaking up on behalf of those who would rather we did not have the right to freedom of expression.
Personally I don't much care for the drawings being published. One should consider other people's reaction before publishing something. But the publication has turned out to be extremely important, as it clearly shows a great schism between the western and the muslim way of thinking. It seems almost impossible to reach an agreement between those who claim the right to speak freely and those who want to oppress oposing thought. But I do believe we can manage. A few hundred years ago, catholics attempted to crush all opposition by telling people what to think and how to live. Today catholic priests in Ireland are telling people to go out and think for themselves (interview in the travel program "Walkabout" on Norwegian TV).There is no reason why we shouldn't be able to accomplish the same with Islam. The least we need to aim for is to agree to disagree. hurting other people's feelings is not nice, but it is a lot less nice to tell fanatics that they don't need to live by the same rules as us.
posted by Unknown | 7:25 pm
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