Welcome login | signup
Language en es fr
OccupyForum

Forum Post: Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed

Posted 10 years ago on Dec. 25, 2013, 10:35 a.m. EST by flip (7101)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

On the question of the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, which sparked riots and massive demonstrations earlier this year, Chomsky is equally vocal. While defending the Danish newspaper Jyllandsposten’s legal right to publish the cartoons (“The New York Times should have the right to publish anti-Semitic Nazi caricatures on the front page.”) he argues that the Jyllandsposten’s decision to publish had nothing to do with press freedom whatsoever. “This is just ordinary racism under cover of freedom of expression,” he says, before attacking the European press in general. “In Europe freedom of speech and freedom of the press are barely protected, in fact barely understood.” Chomsky refers to the Blair government’s attempt to push a law making it a crime to glorify terrorism. “When a Muslim cleric was imprisoned recently on charges of having glorified terrorism, the London Guardian had a lead editorial praising the judicial decision because people shouldn’t be permitted to spew hatred and to glorify violent acts, they should be stopped. Under that law virtually all the British press and publishers should be closed down. Do they incite hatred and violence? Yes. Do they support invading Iraq? Yes. That is supporting hatred and violence,” he says before concluding: “Nobody cares about freedom of speech. What they care about is using state power to shut down the kind of speech they don’t like. Even Stalin would have agreed with that.”

13 Comments

13 Comments


Read the Rules
[-] 1 points by Dan123 (7) 10 years ago

If someone published racist cartoons about Christianity no one would bat an eye.

[-] 2 points by LeoYo (5909) 10 years ago

True. Jesus and other Christian characters are always portrayed in cartoons and dramatizations as people appearing to be European rather than Palestinian and no one ever bats an eye.

[-] 1 points by Dan123 (7) 10 years ago

Why do you care what peoples portrayals of Jesus are. That is not at all what I was talking about.

[-] 1 points by LeoYo (5909) 10 years ago

Perhaps the racism addressed in my reply wasn't the specific kind of racism you had in mind that you had referenced in your statement. A clarification would be helpful since I'm not immediately seeing how a cartoon on the subject of a religion involves racism if a portrayal or attitude towards a race involving that religion isn't involved.

[-] 0 points by Builder (4202) 10 years ago

Jeebus is also portrayed as a skinny dude. He worked as a carpenter up until his early thirties. He would have been built like a brick out-house.

[-] 2 points by LeoYo (5909) 10 years ago

If he had worked as one of the builders, true. But if he had been a rich man in charge of the workers, it wouldn't have been necessarily true.

[-] 0 points by Builder (4202) 10 years ago

If what is written is true, Joseph, his mother's husband, was in charge.

[-] 2 points by LeoYo (5909) 10 years ago

Based upon what is written in the gospel accounts, specifically Luke, one is left to conclude that Joseph had died at some point between Jesus being 12 and 30. Thus, at some point, Jesus, being the eldest male, would have assumed control of the family business.

[-] 0 points by Builder (4202) 10 years ago

Wasn't there an older brother?

Might have been James the Just?

[-] 1 points by LeoYo (5909) 10 years ago

James had been the oldest of the younger siblings.

[-] -3 points by revolutionman (-106) from Kentland, IN 10 years ago

He didn't work much. He was mostly a desert vagabond.

[-] 2 points by flip (7101) 10 years ago

sure, but the "war on Christmas" gets fox fired up - as it should - but did you miss the point of the post

[-] 1 points by Builder (4202) 10 years ago

Pot; Kettle; Black, you mean?