Monday, October 15, 2012

"This insult of the Prophet will not be allowed."

Thousands of Muslims have protested at the headquarters of Google in London about a Youtube film that mocks Muhammad.

The organizer, Masoud Alam, is quoted as saying, "This is not freedom of expression, there is a limit for that. This insult of the Prophet will not be allowed... Until it is banned we will keep protesting."

Yes, it will be allowed. In a free society, just because you label some belief as "religious" doesn't mean I can't criticize it. And you are free to lie and say things like, "Prophet Muhammad is the founder of freedom of speech", and I can criticize that, too.

Islam is badly in need of a reform movement.

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6 comments:

  1. Takis Konstantopoulos4:06 PM, October 15, 2012

    Religion has always enjoyed the privilege of being immune from criticism. What you are commenting on is happening with other religions too: For instance, Christianity in Greece. When the state takes the side of the religious fundamentalists we go one step backwards. Towards middle ages.

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  2. Pseudonym2:02 AM, October 16, 2012

    There is a reform movement in Islam, which unfortunately isn't getting enough coverage.

    Here's one example. This is probably the single most insightful take on the protests against That Film that there is.

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  3. Anonymous4:48 PM, October 23, 2012

    I seriously doubt Islam is reformable. It is broken at the core, starting with their 'prophet' who was a self-serving (child-raping) opportunistic warlord. It would have to distance itself from him which would not leave a whole lot by the way of religion. At best you would be left with a generic deism at which point it would no longer be Islam anymore.

    In any case, methinks you're hoping for mass conversion of Muslims to something other than Islam.

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  4. Oort Cloud6:19 PM, October 23, 2012

    "Religion has always enjoyed the privilege of being immune from criticism."
    Takis, have you never heard of Tartuffe? Gulliver's Travels? You yourself can surely add to this list.

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  5. Alex1:58 PM, October 24, 2012

    I don't think it's reformable because victim-status isn't something people like to give up. As long as they can keep blaming all their problems on "the west", they won't take any major steps towards fixing their issues. It's going to get worse before it gets better.

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  6. Anonymous10:54 PM, November 01, 2012

    Turns out that Muslim leaders that preach for peace get killed for doing so:

    http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/featured/prime-time/867432237001/us-muslims-want-criticism-made-illegal/1940045357001 (about five minutes into the video)

    Another interesting fact, in the video Michael Coren is defending the right to criticize religion under free speech.

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