French cartoon sparks protests

Quote Niki:
"Nobody: The message that dissing Mohammed is gonna bring about riots and the deaths
of innocents. Why not just leave him alone and wait for them to (hopefully) grow up
and get a sense of perspective? What exactly is gained by stuff like this French cartoon,
except a bloated sense of importance by the guy who published it? It doesn't help anyone,
it's not important enough to be worth all the death and destruction. Nobody in a western
country is going to censor it, but anyone with half a brain would self-censor in the name
of avoiding death and chaos to others."

Ah shit, I don't wanna debate in here!

I disagree, Niki.

HKC, thank you for your clear & unwavering posts about the principles here & who's doin'
what to whom. I agree completely.

It's not just the Muslims. Forever, there have been people willing to torture and kill
others over insults, real or perceived, large or small.

In countries that I consider civilized, this is against the law. Free thought and free
speech are essential. Good taste is not required. In fact, I find myself somewhat in
agreement with the artist & publisher of the offending cartoon. It says to me, "Some
people are willing to commit murder over this sort of thing. Beware of them and do
not mistake them for responsible adults."

Oonj: Keep it simple, and don't confuse ourselves.

Oonj: If I put principles before personalities, I can stick to the point instead of always
trying to make every conversation about Me.


=========================
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. ~Charles R Swindoll

If I have to react to others all the time, then they own my mind more than I do.
If I let others tell me how to feel, I lose my ability to choose happiness.
If I let others tell me who I am, I've vacated self-definition.
Finally, I realized how foolish I was to give others such power over me.

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Aw, this is depressing, folks. Thank you, Oonjerah, for your kind words of understanding. I was hoping that a good several people here were more savvy about violence than this.

Hey Niki, some comments on your latest post (btw, did you read my last post, the one addressed to AgentRouka? It speaks to a lot of your arguments here):

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Originally posted by Niki2:
...from her first post, Byte stated:

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On the other hand, people who deliberately just rile Muslims up are basically the IRL equivalent of trolls, only their provocations tend to kill more people.

So I'm going to suggest maybe both sides are really dumb.

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And from her first post, Byte says, right there, that the cartoonists' "provocations...kill...people." I don't know how much clearer she could be that the cartoonists share blame for the violence.

Cartoonists should not be threatened, should not be attacked--end of story. No one should be threatened or attacked because of what a cartoonist draws. Ever. That goes for all types of cartoons. There are not certain cartoons that deserve threats even a teensy bit more than other cartoons. Cartoonists do not deserve death threats. Period.

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First of all, the cartoonists have been victims of NO violence whatsoever. You can find it 'unjust' if you want to, but the fact is the cartoonist DID intend to provoke. They say it was satire, but they've been there before; their offices were attacked and burned last November for a much milder satire of Mohammed. Then yes, they were victims. Not this time. This time they've suffered nothing, others have. In the words of another, "To repeat the same stupidity, the same idiocy and the same calumnies, the same ignominy seems to be nearly psychotic action."

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This is just awful, Niki. You say yourself that the newspaper's offices were attacked and burned already for far more mild satire. So, how is the new cartoon not an act of defiance? How is it not an act of courage? Because you think it's disgusting??? That's ONLY your opinion! I don't think they're disgusting in the least. And I can see that they serve a much larger purpose, PARTICULARLY in light of recent violence against the paper. How can you not see the legitimacy your words grant to the violence when you say the cartoonists should have censored themselves?

And I'm sorry, but if you live under threat of violence, you are a victim of violence. The abuser wants things the way he wants them or else. The house ruled by such a tyrant is no less violent because the inhabitants have LEARNED to stay in line. Knuckling under to tyranny has terrible consequences for the folk who engage in that sort of self-violation. And even if you "play by the rules," tyranny will lash out periodically, just as a "reminder." And THAT is why there's no cause and effect between cartoonists and violent reprisals.

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Maybe these people are truly stupid. But anyone who'd had their offices attacked, and saw the violence that stupid video created, would have to be TRULY stupid not to know what the outcome of their provocation would be.

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How is this ANY different from telling young women to "not dress like whores" so as to avoid rape?

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Let's get rid of that one right now. In the first place, I didn't "tell" anyone to do anything.

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Nonsense, Niki. You're "telling" the cartoonists, retroactively of course, to self-censor. You're telling us that that's what they shoulda done. Y'know, to save all those lives they've endangered by defying madmen.

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