I had always thought Concordia to be a leftist, socialist, backward-leaning 3rd rate college.

Nothing I've ever seen in the press, or heard from its graduates, has altered my opinion.

Posted by: Alienated at February 9, 2006 07:41 PM

---

Let me see - something out of whack

* Muslims fly commercial airliners into buildings in New York
City.

No Muslim outrage.

* Muslim officials block the exit where school girls are trying to escape a burning building because their faces were exposed.

No Muslim outrage.

* Muslims cut off the heads of three teenaged girls on their way to school in Indonesia. A Christian school.

No Muslim outrage.

* Muslims murder teachers trying to teach Muslim children in Iraq.

No Muslim outrage.

* Muslims murder over 80 tourists with car bombs outside cafes and hotels
in Egypt.

No Muslim outrage.

* A Muslim attacks a missionary children's school in India. Kills six.

No Muslim outrage.

* Muslims slaughter hundreds of children and teachers in Beslan, Russia.
Muslims shoot children in the back.

No Muslim outrage.

* Let's go way back. Muslims kidnap and kill athletes at the Munich
Summer Olympics.

No Muslim outrage.

* Muslims fire rocket-propelled grenades into schools full of children in
Israel.

No Muslim outrage.

* Muslims murder more than 50 commuters in attacks on London subways and
busses. Over 700 are injured.

No Muslim outrage.

* Muslims massacre dozens of innocents at a Passover Seder.

No Muslim outrage.

* Muslims murder innocent vacationers in Bali.

No Muslim outrage.

* Muslim newspapers publish anti-Semitic cartoons.

No Muslim outrage

* Muslims are involved, on one side or the other, in almost every one of
the 125+ shooting wars around the world.

No Muslim outrage.

* Muslims beat the charred bodies of Western civilians with their shoes,
then hang them from a bridge.

No Muslim outrage.

* Newspapers in Denmark and Norway publish cartoons depicting Mohammed.
...Muslims are outraged.

Dead children. Dead tourists. Dead teachers. Dead doctors and nurses. Death, destruction and mayhem around the world at the hands of Muslims

...no Muslim outrage ...

Before you think I`m a whacko - of course many quietly hope this will all blow over. But the organizers and those who do not stop the mass rallies and hate filled demonstrations have made themselves accountable.

RPV Drones on a one way mission are coming. The leadersship has to take a crap and they`ll be seen and located.

Let them think about the sudden end of Adm Yamamoto

See the link

.......let's get this into perspective!!!!

Posted by: Floyd Low at February 9, 2006 07:52 PM

---

Everything I have found about The War of the 12
Cartoons ( links, blogs, quips, quotes, aggravating pictures ) is
located here- scroll backwards:
-LinK--

Posted by: backhoe at February 9, 2006 08:00 PM

---

I am getting sick and tired of the left wing in this country bending over backwards for special interest groups. I am personally offened by spineless shits like Wade MacLauchlan stepping on our chartered gauranteed freedoms in the name of political correctness. I think he should be brought up on charges of interfeering with the rights and freedoms of UPEI students. Throw his ass in jail. He would be very popular wiht the "boys".

Posted by: Odie441 at February 9, 2006 08:01 PM

---

I am getting sick and tired of the left wing in this country bending over backwards for special interest groups. I am personally offened by spineless shits like Wade MacLauchlan stepping on our chartered gauranteed freedoms in the name of political correctness. I think he should be brought up on charges of interfeering with the rights and freedoms of UPEI students. Throw his ass in jail. He would be very popular with the "boys".

Posted by: Odie441 at February 9, 2006 08:01 PM

---

My grandfather didn't fight for the freedom of this country so muslims could come 50 years later and try to take those freedoms away. When immigrants have the PRIVILEGE of moving to Canada they should apreciate it,not bring thier problems and violence with them. If you don't love Canada for what it is ,a free country in every way,you are welcome to leave. If you can burn our flag here, you can publish cartoons. What happened here? All the freedoms we as a people cherish are now supposed to be thrown out the window to appease some immigrants? Why hasn't there been outrage over the Egyptian newspaper that printed the cartoons last October. Isn't that just a nice double standard.

Thankfully at least one person has the fortitude to make a stand for what is right. Go professor.

Posted by: What's going on? at February 9, 2006 08:01 PM

---

Aren't many of the people objecting the same ones who don't mind taking away the freedom and dignity of the majority of law abiding Muslims via racial profiling? Either you want to preserve individual freedom or you don't.

Posted by: Peter Sams at February 9, 2006 08:31 PM

---

"In the institution that most symbolizes civilization, the university..."

"The Treason of the Intellectuals"

The treason of the intellectuals and "the undoing of thought" by ...
In other words, the real treason of the intellectuals was not that they ...
The Treason of the Intellectuals is an energetic hodgepodge of a book. ...
www.newcriterion.com/archive/11/dec92/treason.htm - 33k - Cached - Similar pages

Armed and Dangerous
An intellectual commits treason against humanity when he or she propagandizes
... Today's treason of the intellectuals consists of equating suicide bombings ...
armedndangerous.blogspot.com/2002_11_24_armedndangerous_archive.html - 23k - Cached - Similar pages

Treason of the Intellectuals, Volume 3
Treason of the Intellectuals was the title of a 1928 book by Julien Benda,
originally published in French as La Trahison des Clercs. ...
www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/PSEUDOSC/TreasonV3.HTM - 27k -

Posted by: maz2 at February 9, 2006 08:33 PM

---

"Muslims riot. Muslims burn. Muslims rampage. And Muslims get their way."

Could you make the brush any larger?

Funny how the worst of the Muslim-baiters are Christians.

It's interesting how you religious types like to feed on each other's outrage. Muslim extremists, Christian Muslim-baiters: two sides of the same coin.

Many of you are the first to criticize liberalism in your own Western societies, but when there’s an opportunity to cast Muslims as an unthinking mob, suddenly disrespect for the sacred is the bedrock of Western nations.

Two wrongs don't make a right - broad intolerance towards Muslims is not a reasonable response to perceived intolerance by an extremely small but vocal minority of Muslims.

But when it comes to other religions, it's senseless to try and reason with most Christians. They're right, everyone else is wrong, and that's all there is to it.

Posted by: Ade at February 9, 2006 08:36 PM

---

At the risk of self-promotion, a guest post at "Daimnation":

"Why are faith-based politics wrong for Christians yet fine for Muslims?"
http://www.damianpenny.com/archived/005720.html

Mark
Ottawa

Posted by: Mark Collins at February 9, 2006 08:37 PM

---

Re "Could you make the brush any larger?" Actually, I wish it were a broom with which the seething, whining, griping, quick-to-ignite and call for violence horde could be swept under their prayer rugs.

Posted by: Agent Orange at February 9, 2006 08:56 PM

---

"The degree of of his maturation and adulthood is in direct proportion to his capacity to enlarge his horizon and make friends with all kinds of people.
The immature personality stops early in this process; he can only identify with his own group and considers others dangerous and hostile. This group egotism may include the family only, or it may extend to social class, political party, nation, or race. In all these cases, the attachment to the in-group is frequently more an EXPRESSION OF HATRED FOR THE OUTSIDER THAN OF AFFECTION FOR THE INSIDER." - Today's Isms.

Add religion to the above list and you see where the problem is coming from. And this is where multi-tribalism is going to lead this country. Don't forget the London bombers were born in Britain. I think everyone is born with a natural dislike of being told what to do all their lives. But many do not have the courage to tell their fanatical religious leaders to bugger off.

Posted by: rockyt at February 9, 2006 09:26 PM

---

Angry, you could say we conceded to the barbarians when we let the Left take over education in this country. The rest is just a logical progression of Leftism.

Concordia should have all its public funds yanked as a response to this ongoing behaviour. See how far they get without the intravenous drip of tax dollars.

Stephen Harper and company, take note.

Posted by: The Phantom at February 9, 2006 09:50 PM

---

Mr. Janke,
"Worse yet, the newspaper is no longer allowed to discuss the cartoons or comment on the banned paper:"

Your piece requires a correction. The newspaper can still discuss it, it's students on their weblogs who can't.

Posted by: Angela at February 9, 2006 09:54 PM

---

Ada:
"It's interesting how you religious types like to feed on each other's outrage. Muslim extremists, Christian Muslim-baiters: two sides of the same coin."

Same coin? Ah yes, everytime Muslims burn a church Christians are out in the streets in the hundreds of thousands storming and destroying Arab consulates and calling for the beheading of Muslims. Same coin, indeed. Yes siree. No difference at all.

Posted by: john the mad at February 9, 2006 10:06 PM

---

Ada:
"It's interesting how you religious types like to feed on each other's outrage. Muslim extremists, Christian Muslim-baiters: two sides of the same coin."

Same coin? Ah yes, everytime Muslims burn a church Christians are out in the streets in the hundreds of thousands storming and destroying Arab consulates and calling for the beheading of Muslims. Same coin, indeed. Yes siree. No difference at all.

Posted by: john the mad at February 9, 2006 10:06 PM

---

Political correctness is killing Canada--and our 'Institutions of Higher Learning' are leading the way.
I am not a 'Christian', but do believe there are right and wrong ways for humans to behave and interact with their fellow man. To date, the radical Muslims have shown us the wrong way. Now the 'intellectuals' of Canada are also showing us the wrong way. If we do not stand for the right way--who will? One person has the courage to stand up for what is right in a Democratic country--what have we become?

Posted by: at February 9, 2006 10:09 PM

---

If someone does not respect the taboo things in my religion, why is it wrong for me not to respect the taboo things in someone else's religion? I do not follow Islam so if I were to ridicule it's leader is that not ok? Why is it ok to ridicule Jesus or Buddha or the jewish faith if you follow Islam? Until the leaders of the Muslim world stand up and say enough is enough, nobody will give them the respect they are trying to get by these terrorist acts.

Posted by: Sid at February 9, 2006 10:29 PM

---

Let the war begin .God Bless Canada

Posted by: Shawn Taylors at February 9, 2006 10:35 PM

---

> broad intolerance towards Muslims is not a reasonable response to perceived intolerance by an extremely small but vocal minority of Muslims.

Perceived intolerence of an extremely small minority muslims?

Hundreds of thousands of muslims on a burning, rampaging, murdering spree in response to drawings on paper is not perceived intolerence, it's a fact.

So what would the appropriate response be? Surrender?

Posted by: at February 9, 2006 10:38 PM

---

conplan 8022. first week of April,if we wait that long. socket

Posted by: socket at February 9, 2006 11:24 PM

---

Ade:
You know you are really fucked up in the head comparing christians to muslims like just did .
you must be a fucking atheist or some fucking satanist or something. Some moral relativism.
Why don't think before you press POST?
You think you're a fucking intellect or something with your constant warped commentary.
You just like to piss people off.
I can't believe we have people like you on this earth.
Do the math .
Muslims are killing people in the name of their religion and
christians are praying for peace on earth and goodwill toward your fellow man.
Don't believe me
Tough beans wingnut!

Posted by: banjotom at February 9, 2006 11:45 PM

---

"To date, the radical Muslims have shown us the wrong way. Now the 'intellectuals' of Canada are also showing us the wrong way. If we do not stand for the right way--who will?"

Certainly not these counter-jihadists who want to do to Muslims what they do to religious minorities in the middle east. We need some voices who will stand up for true freedom, not just justifying counter-bigotry. Islamicists fear freedom: women dressing how they want, women in school, religious freedom, consumption of "sinful" substances, the ability to criticize religious or other structures. Fighting intolerance with intolerance will only push otherwise-reasonable Muslims into the extremist camp. Once the redneck chest-beating setttles down people can get to work on preserving our freedoms and spreading that freedom to Iran/Syria/Afghanistan etc.

Posted by: Peter Sams at February 9, 2006 11:47 PM

---

Banjotom:

Who are among the biggest supporters of the war in Iraq? Evangelical Christians. Peace on Earth and Goodwill? You're speaking nonsense.

Posted by: Peter Sams at February 9, 2006 11:49 PM

---

I can't believe there are still people like Ade who don't get it and who try to make like pointing out issues about Islam is "Muslim baiting". What is this weird death wish on the part of leftists?
It is not racist or Islamophobic to point out that that the ideology of Islam is dangerous. Communism is dangerous and to point that out doesn't mean you are racist against Chinese or Russians. Nazism is dangerous and to point that out doesn't mean you hate all Germans. Islam is dangerous to its own practitioners and to non-Muslims. Muslims kill each other like crazy - Shiites/Sunnis blowing up each others mosques. Islam is dangerous for its own women, gay people, and anyone who decides to become apostate. There is no reason for us to shy away from this. We must study the Koran as a piece of historic literature in the same way that biblical scholars study the Bible, old and new. The Koran takes many of the characters of the old and new Testaments and mixes them around. For instance Miriam the sister of Moses is also the mother of the man from Nazareth (although in the old and new testaments they are separated by over 1000 years). Haman of the book of Esther shows up with the Pharoah in the book of Exodus. Islam then says that the "people of the book" particularly the Jews lied and that the Koran is the true version. Mohammed thought that he was the "last of the prophets" and was not happy when the Jews did not recognize him as such. Remember that when Mohammed lived (around 600 AD) Christians had been around for some 550 years and Jews had been around for 2000 years. Islam knew that the Christians found evidence for the coming of Jesus in the books of the Old Testament and Islam then had to claim that the Jews lied because Mohammed is not prophesized in the Torah. Replacement Theology. I have discovered that this is not a topic that can be discussed in "polite" company, but it is just history. History that no journalists seem to know or care to bring up. In a way it is intellectual theft in much the same way that "Palestinianism" is a carbon copy of "Zionism".

Posted by: ex-liberal at February 10, 2006 12:14 AM

---

Floyd, Lost Budgie pointed out a couple of other things for your list:

- the Spanish train bombings...

- 1,000 teachers, monks and civilians in Thailand in the last 2 years...

Posted by: tomax at February 10, 2006 01:42 AM

---

During the ghastly Nazi era of the 1930’s and 1940’s, we saw the burning of student newspapers and classical books at German universities and the use of police to suppress student movements that, in any manner, conflicted with the most perverted Nazi goals. Today, we see, at the University of P.E.I., the President Wade MacLauchlan suppressing the University’s Newspaper, with the use of campus police, on behalf of a foreign, terrorist criminal movement. MacLauchan has now excluded himself from the discourse of decent and reasonable Canadians, simply stated he is very far beneath contempt! The basic fact is that the little island that calls itself a “Province� is a political joke which cannot afford a university and, without Federal Aid, would not have one! It is time to pull the plug! This so-called “Province� is entitled by population to one (1) M.P. and not one red cent of Federal money for its so-called “university�.

Posted by: SEHaliburton at February 10, 2006 01:49 AM

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Has anyone been reading the comments sent to this UPEI paper? They are actually supporting the decision of the university to suspend this professor! *Quote*

"Good for the admin for pulling the paper. What you guys did was perpetuate a serious global issue. 10 people have died over this issue and you want to hide behind the freedom of speech bullshit. Wake Up! If a student really wants to see the pictures to "make their own educated opinion" they can DOWNLOAD them. It seems you guys are more interested in being newsmakers than doing the right thing. I'm not even close to Muslim and Lord knows how many cartoons depicting Jesus in a negative light have been created but obviously that’s not the issue at hand. These pictures are apparently very offensive to many people…you know whatever, I think I made my point. Lack of respect is the biggest issue here. Show some class eh."

What the hell is going on in the maritimes? The issue is not respect, and A NEWSPAPER is supposed to report THE NEWS!
They seem to be so busy trying to not rock the boat and maintian the status quo, that they have forgot what thousands of maritimers HAVE DIED FOR TO HELP BUILD.
Shake your heads people, the foundation of every freedom we enjoy today is being attacked. And apparently some don't even care.

Posted by: Jan Schaafsma at February 10, 2006 02:11 AM

---

The Iranian government does the same thing.
I too was disgusted by an openly admitted
cowardly act which is one stage further to
a muslim victory. When will the left and
our so-called academics and intellectuals
wake up to what is the show-down of the century.

Posted by: Wimpy Canadian at February 10, 2006 08:37 AM

---

Posted by anonymous:

------------
Perceived intolerence of an extremely small minority muslims?

Hundreds of thousands of muslims on a burning, rampaging, murdering spree in response to drawings on paper is not perceived intolerence, it's a fact.
------------

You are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. And it is absolutely not a fact that there are "Hundreds of thousands of muslims on a burning, rampaging, murdering spree".

Posted by: Ade at February 10, 2006 09:18 AM

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Did any of you see Professor Peter March interviewed on CTV last night? It was excellent. He and a member of the Halifax Palestinian Celebration group (or whatever) debated on CTV.

March wiped the floor with this kid. March made excellent points, which I haven't seen in any press coverage (not to mention Canadian media).

In the videos on the CTV link, a Muslim is demanding that he leave, since he is not wanted. The professor says "I dont care".

Check out the videos (not of the debate) here:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060209/cartoon_canada_060209/20060209?hub=Canada

Someone is standing up.

Posted by: Eagle at February 10, 2006 09:25 AM

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"In order to express their displeasure with the idea that Muslims are violent, thousands of Muslims around the world engaged in rioting, arson, mob savagery, flag-burning, murder and mayhem, among other peaceful acts of nonviolence."
- Ann Coulter -

No need to get angry at Ade; he's just sleepwalking towards dhimmitude.

But Ade, if you buy into the fallacy of the "Islam is a religion of peace(TM)", and you're a proponent of facts, why not glance over the summary of Islamic "peace" initiatives, not to mention body count, at:

http://thereligionofpeace.com/

God save us from importing Islamic "peace" to Canada.

mhb23re

Posted by: MHB at February 10, 2006 10:41 AM

---

The world is folding to the Islamist threats. In PEI the ban newspapers (effectively), in Sweden they close web sites.

Where is Churchill when we need him?

Posted by: Johan i Kanada at February 10, 2006 11:10 AM

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SE Haliburton: I understand your frustration with the size of my province, but that's the constitutional arrangement we are in as a Nation.

EVERY public university gets government funding in this country (not just UPEI). On average, students' tuition covers about 20-25% of the cost, no matter which province you live in. (Students in Nova Scotia pay the most, Quebeckers pay the least).

The saddest part about this story is that The Cadre was the FIRST paper in this country to print all 12 cartoons. The editor's purpose was not to provoke, but so that people could see what we are discussing and what all the fuss is about.

Posted by: Angela at February 10, 2006 11:34 AM

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The Left wants to "understand those poor hurting rampaging Islamofascists". The Left are the "Social Workers" of our Society who generally tend to really screw things up. The Left are the Chamberlains and Petains of the 1940's. The Left are appeasers. The Left are those poor hostages in Iraq waiting to have their throats cut by Islamic Wahabists. The Left are the men and women shot and killed or had their hair cut off for consorting with the Nazis during WW2. The Left are those in their little fantasy world hoping the bad things will go away if you talk nice to them. The People who will take care of our country are those who see clearly the present danger of Islamofascism, Wahabism, Al Quaeda, Talibanism, Syria and Iran. Those who want freedom understand that on occasion people have to stand up and defend it and be prepared to die to protect it. The Left just don't get the fact that we are at war with Islamofascism and Wahabism and have been since at least 9/11.
Wake up Lefties.

Posted by: Rick at February 10, 2006 12:09 PM

---

Krauthammer, with one of the best takes on the whole cartoon issue:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/09/AR2006020901434.html?sub=AR

"An appeaser feeds the crocodile in the hopes it'll eat him last"
- Winston Churchill -

mhb23re

Posted by: at February 10, 2006 12:11 PM

---

This is a cultural war.

Who do you fight for?

Posted by: PGP at February 10, 2006 02:00 PM

---

To address some of the comments above, any ideology stretched too far is dangerous. So too are many of your closed-minded arguments. The world is not composed of ideological teams: the left, the right, the Christians, the Muslims.

There is no prize to be won folks.

On this issue, deconstructing the act of religious belonging is a far better pursuit than assigning blame. Deconstructing the irrational motivation of protestors on either side of the issue - by state, by religion, by media - this is the critical dialogue that needs to happen. Not a pissing match over who's right. There are clearly many political and capitalist interests that are abetted by the instability that this issue brings, and we support those interests when we make irrational judgements and morally relative assesments of the people involved. Calling Islam dangerous does nothing.

Many of your comments try to boil this issue down to it's lowest common denominators. I suppose that helps some wager their own simplistic personal critique of the many factors involved, but in my experience, those people have little to say that is valuable or helpful to solving any dilemma.

Posted by: lever at February 10, 2006 02:48 PM

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Dear Lever,
I assume you are addressing me since I wrote that Islam is dangerous. Islam is an ideology and one can rationally look at its positive and negative effects on adherents and non-adherents. I know that we live in a time when we have been programmed not to be "judgemental", but it is okay to compare and contrast. And even though it would be nice if we were children of the universe, the world is actually divided into ideological teams. to deny this, is to deny reality. No matter how much you may want it not to be so, Islam actually does have a doctrine of world domination. Not every single Muslim may be actively pursuing this end, but it is still part of the ideology of Islam. Not every Russian wanted world domination, but Soviet Communism wanted it. I don't know about you, but I'm glad we won the Cold War. Maybe you find this simplistic, but I think we need to take a good hard look at our way of life and decide whether we think there is anything worth standing up for.

Posted by: ex-liberal at February 10, 2006 03:57 PM

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Ex-liberal

Firstly, I don't call xenophobia "being judgemental."

Secondly, in response to my denial of a natural ideological order to the world, you say: "the world is actually divided into ideological teams. to deny this, is to deny reality" - is this the best defense of your position you could come up with? Saying that my arguments are an ignorant denial of reality. Please, enlighten me.

Thirdly, despite your abundant patriotism, please don't lump me into your we.

Posted by: lever at February 10, 2006 04:15 PM

---

Posted by: lever at February 10, 2006 02:48 PM

"To address some of the comments above, any ideology stretched too far is dangerous. So too are many of your closed-minded arguments."

Yada, yada, yada. So what do you propose then, Lever? Discarding freedom of the press, or just 'self-censorship' because of threats?

There is good and evil in the world - whether you choose to recognize it is irrelevant. Good is immutable and unchanging, while evil is the opposite.

Civilizations and cultures are not equal or 'equivalent' irrespective of what the left believes. Muslims are not inherently evil, but if they do not take steps to eliminate the pervasive evil amongst themselves they will unfortunately reap the whirlwind.

The 'fifth column' that is the left, is hard at work, using their supposed moral superiority and relativism to aid and abet the evil afoot in the world.

Evil is at work, in a particulary fiendish and diabolical fashion, subverting what should be a force for good (Moslem religion) into a pervasive and insidious cancer that grows ever more difficult to deal with.

Please, Lever - give us your wisdom and a solution.

Posted by: at February 10, 2006 04:25 PM

---

Lever, you can intellectualize all you want however when the Islam's knife is sawing through your neck perhaps then you will understand what the lowest common denominator really is. You are what I said above. You just still don't get it. Islam is going to have to be at your door killing you before you truly understand that they don't care about your bullshit intellectual arguments.

Posted by: Rick at February 10, 2006 04:47 PM

---

Lever is the kind of Liberal sheep that the muslim extremeists are counting on to turn a blind eye. I am not a religious fanatic, but I have faith. I have not burned any embassies or consulates lately because some muslim country insulted Jesus or my God. I for one am sick of appeasing a minority of fanatics who use certain Canons of Islam to push forward their political agenda. Time to stop pussy footing around and eliminate this leadership. Cut the head off the snake, the body dies. Ask Isreal, they understand this completely. I now sit back and wait for the lefties to attack my point of view.

Posted by: odie441 at February 10, 2006 05:13 PM

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Dear Lever,
it is not xenophobic to discuss the history of Islam. Islam came out of the Arabian peninsula around 600 AD. It spread by the sword. Pagans had a choice: convert or die. "people of the book" (an Islamic designation), Christians and Jews, had to live as dhimmis, second class citizens without equal rights before the law. I personally do not want to live as a dhimmi. Why is it xenophobic to discuss these things when trying to make sense of what is happening in the world today?

Posted by: ex-liberal at February 10, 2006 05:23 PM

---

If you boil any religion down to what can be printed on a matchbox, you have a good neighbor. You know, the don't lie, cheat or covet kinda guy.

Its when people get hung up on details that they don't get along.

Unfortunately, if Christians protested when a missionary met an untimely death in the Arab world, it wouldn't matter, as the press is so controlled over there, that they're unlikely to report it, or correctly interpret the protest.

I was just thinking about the guy warning of the widening gulf between east and west. It has been the east, that has for some time, been applying the pressure to keep that gulf widening.

Posted by: Curtis at February 10, 2006 05:58 PM

---

>No matter how much you may want it not to be so, Islam actually does have a doctrine of world domination.
>Not every single Muslim may be actively pursuing this end, but it is still part of the ideology of Islam.

Did you know that the Old Testament advocates the execution of anyone who preaches a religion other than Judaism? It's true - while most Jews don't follow the practice of throwing rocks at unbelievers until they die, it's still part of the ideology of Judaism.

Did you know that centuries ago, Christians used to go around killing other Christians because of theological differences? Hundreds of thousands of Catholics and Protestants died in numerous conflicts. Surely they were doctrinal wars, supported by the teachings of Jesus, right? Wrong! There isn't anything in the New Testament to support killing Christians who have different approaches to worship.

So how can we have this one religion that teaches on thing that its followers don't do, and another that its followers did even though it didn't teach it? Well, guess what! Sometimes ideologies, no matter how firmly entrenched in tradition, aren't followed. And sometimes you have different groups in the same religion that believe different things.

This is Islam.

Yes, there are plenty of Muslims who would have no qualms about chopping my head off - or at least talking about it. My guess is that they tend to be regular people who like to burn flags and shoot guns in the air but probably wouldn't stick a knife in me if it came down to that. It takes a rare breed of person to be born that way; they're called psychopaths. Usually you have to teach this behavior - it's something you learn in the military, the ability to kill without empathy. This is what is taught in Islamist training camps: not a transcendent philosophy that allows its followers to do the work of God without remorse, but a cruel, militant system, similar to any such training found in armies and brigades of every sort around the world, engrained in them from a young age.

That's the problem with Islam - how it is used as an ideological weapon to take disaffected people and give them something to strike out against. It's not something intrinsically evil in the religion itself - many religions have been used to promote and justify war and murder, and yet are largely considered peaceful today, like Christianity. Just keep in mind that Islam is most prevalent in poor, third-world countries. As a nation develops economically, it also develops socially, and should we in the West manage to avoid our self-extinction - and avoid wiping out the Middle East in an insanely foolish act - we'll see Islam mature in Arab and African nations as it has in our own civilizations. All we have to do is discourage extremism, encourage political and social liberties, create favorable economic conditions - and do it peacefully. Any other way is setting the worst kind of example.

You can separate extremism and religion. It's been done before.

Posted by: Tim at February 10, 2006 08:03 PM

---

Islam does not acknowledge where it came from. Christianity kept the Old Testament, and added another book. Islam uses the characters, ideas of the other books and then says that theirs is the correct version. For example, Islam says that God asked Abraham to sacrifice Ishmael when the Torah says that God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Islam then has to say that the Torah/Jews lied. An analogy would be centuries after Shakespeare writing a play saying that Hamlet was a character in Othello and then calling anyone who says that this is not true, a liar and the sons of pigs and donkeys. This is not an issue that is based in poverty or materialism.

Posted by: ex-liberal at February 10, 2006 09:27 PM

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I don't know if those such as Wade MacLauchlin, who are so magnanimous and concerned about the sensitivities of Muslims re this particular issue have ever actually lived in an Islamic country. I spent the greater part of my school years in one such country (N. Nigeria), and "blasphemies" directed toward the person of the prophet were not treated as mere infractions or artistic excesses. Muslim citizens do indeed suffer severe punishments for such "crimes" in those jurisdictions where Sharia law is practiced without deference to human rights concerns.

It is however one thing to subject the citizens of a Taliban-like state to the draconian rigors of Islamic justice, and quite another to attempt to export the same climate of threat and intimidation to Western countries under the guise of "righteous offence". In doing this, Islamic radicals seek to use our multi-cultural PC sensitivities against us and if that doesn't work there are always death threats and other types of intimidation.

There is nothing innocent about any of this; these taboos are deliberately evoked and used as a weapon to intimidate and silence.

Ironically (given that the issue of artistic rendering is central to this clash), there are quite a number of Islamic miniatures that portray a likeness of the prophet. Such representations are by no means unheard of.

This particular cartoon incident has been deliberately exploited as a political strategy in the struggle with the secular world. It is really only an early skirmish; the clash of values has just begun and those in the West who are already caving in and resorting to mealy mouthed rationales, simply don't get it.

It's not about being polite about the other guy's religion. Sure, if the other guy happens to be a mild mannered Buddhist, or any other believer whose religion is not being employed as an ideological weapon, I would agree that we should avoid giving unnecessary offence.

In the case of harder edged Islamic chauvinism with its characteristic insolence, it is naive to simply take the view that "we shouldn't offend". Excuse me - but when a Mullah in Iran issues a Fatwah on a Western based author, Rushdie, calling for his murder in a Western jurisdiction we know that it is about a hell of a lot more than wounded religious sensibilities. When a Dutch film maker, Theo Van Gogh, is slaughtered in the street for the crime of exposing injustices experienced by Islamic women, its not merely about offended male pride. When the Canadian refusnik Irshad Manji, has her life threatened for speaking about problems in her own religion, Islam, its not merely about offended orthodoxy. The impulse central to these protests is all about control and silencing any with the temerity to cross lines that have been have drawn for us, without even an attempt at polite consultation.

To simply say "we must not offend" is to be shockingly blind about what is actually going on here. Recently English Muslims were polled on the question of Sharia law, and close to 60% responded that they would like to see provisions from Sharia become a part of the English judicial system.

This is a very real fight, and those who blithely assume that we can afford to bend over backwards because our rights and freedoms in the West are immutable - or worse still - who argue for sub-clauses that designate "Muslim offence concerns" no-go areas, are in the business of selling out the very essence of what it means to be a free society.

I tip my hat to all those courageous editors in Europe - now also in the States and Canada - with the guts to do the right thing by publishing these cartoons.

The following comments are from a recent column by the Muslim refusnik Irshad Manji ...

"Muslims have little integrity demanding respect for our faith if they don't show it for others. When have we demonstrated against Saudi Arabia's policy to prevent Christians and Jews from stepping on the soil of Mecca? They may come for rare business trips, but nothing more. As long as Rome welcomes non-Christians and Jerusalem embraces non-Jews, we Muslims have more to protest than cartoons.

None of this is to dismiss the need to take my religion seriously. Hell, Muslims even take seriously the need to be serious: Islam has a teaching against "excessive laughter." I'm not joking. But does this mean that we should cry "blasphemy" over less-than-flattering depictions of the Prophet Muhammad? God no.

For one thing, the Koran itself points out that there will always be non-believers, and that it's for Allah, not Muslims, to deal with them. More than that, the Koran says there is "no compulsion in religion." Which suggests that nobody should be forced to treat Islamic norms as sacred.

Fine, many Muslims will retort, but we're talking about the Prophet Muhammad - Allah's final and therefore perfect messenger. However, Islamic tradition holds that the Prophet was a human being who made mistakes. It's precisely because he wasn't perfect that we know of the so-called Satanic Verses: a collection of passages that the Prophet reportedly included in the Koran. Only later did he realize that those verses glorified heathen idols rather than God. According to Islamic legend, he retracted the idolatrous passages, blaming them on a trick played by Satan.

When Muslims put the Prophet on a pedestal, we're engaging in idolatry of our own. The point of monotheism is to worship one God, not one of God's emissaries. Which is why humility requires people of faith to mock themselves - and each other - every once in a while."

Posted by: Aidan Maconachy at February 10, 2006 09:43 PM

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Aidan, that was an excellent summary.

Posted by: Peter Sams at February 11, 2006 08:54 AM

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Well said, Mr. Janke, well said.........

Posted by: isirota1965 at February 11, 2006 11:13 AM

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"Did you know that the Old Testament advocates the execution of anyone who preaches a religion other than Judaism?"

Rubbish.

> while most Jews don't follow the practice of throwing rocks at unbelievers until they die, it's still part of the ideology of Judaism.

More rubbish. In fact it says in the Talmud, "The righteous of all people have a place in The World to Come."

Posted by: cba at February 11, 2006 09:54 PM

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cba - Read the Torah. Deuteronomy 13 instructs believers to kill false prophets, wipe out villages who believe in false teachings and even to kill your own family if they turn against the true God. Fun times!

Posted by: Tim at February 13, 2006 12:55 AM

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For an excellent discussion of the censorship of the UPEI Cadre in the context of the history of freedom of speech, see:

http://sixthcolumn.blogspot.com/2006/02/fitzgerald-needed-refresher-course-in.html

Here's an excerpt:

In seizing issues of a student publication containing those cartoons, Wade MacLauchlan, President of the University of Prince Edward Island, explained: "We see it [the publication of the cartoons] as a reckless invitation to public disorder and humiliation." Wade MacLauchlan needs a refresher course in freedom of speech. He needs to read Milton's Areopagitica. He needs to learn about John Peter Zenger. He needs to read "Freedom of the Mind in Human History." He needs to understand that a recognized right which can no longer be exercised out of fear of a violent response by those who not only claim to be offended, but do not recognize such a general right in their own, quite different world -- a world where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has no place -- is a right that no longer exists.

Posted by: axe-to-grind at February 13, 2006 11:14 AM

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