“And when I am president of the world, there will be a Koran in every home!”
on February 24th, 2006 at 11:13 amSource: DailyTimes.com
ISLAMABAD: Former US president Bill Clinton on Friday condemned the publication of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) caricatures by European newspapers and urged countries concerned to convict the publishers.
Talking to reporters after meeting Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Islamabad, Clinton said he disagreed with the caricatures and that the publication was against religious and ethical norms. Clinton said he had no objection to peaceful demonstrations being held worldwide, but this was not the time for violence. He said it was the time to promote inter-faith harmony and stand together on the issue.
He said the people’s religious convictions should be respected at all costs and the media should be disallowed to play with the religious sentiments of other faiths. He said the media could criticise any issue including governments and people, but nobody had the right to play with the sentiments of other faiths. (more…)
I thought that this was a very interesting move for a former AMERICAN president to tell other nations to limit the freedom of expression. I wish that he was just as gracious with the depiction of Mary in elephant dung back in 2000.
While cable news networks are not showing these cartoons to prevent offending Islam, CNN had no problem showing this offensive image of Mary on its website.
Let me be clear with this whole situation AGAIN. Offensive depictions of any religion is wrong. With that being said, why are we not showing the same impartiality to Christianity?
Here is a partial list of “offenses” against Christianity on American television and other venues–offenses deemed “Art”:
#The recently canceled NBC show “The Book of Daniel”
#The West Wing–The president (portrayed by Martin Sheen) makes the following statement: “Am I really to believe that these are that acts of a loving God? A just God? A wise God?” Bartlet exclaims. “To hell with your punishments. I was your servant here on Earth. And I spread your word and I did your work. To hell with your punishments. To hell with you.”
#Kanye West’s portrayal Jesus on a recent cover of Rolling Stone magazine
#Piss Christ–From thecityreview.com:”The notorious “Piss Christ” by Andres Serrano (b. 1950), Lot 51, is a beautiful image of the crucifixion that seems to float in blood, which caused a great deal of controversy because the liquid is urine and many people felt the image and concept was therefore sacrilegious. While the use of urine was provocative, the resulting image is very powerful and memorable and fine. This lot is numbered 4 of an edition of 10. It had an estimate of $30,000 to $40,000 and sold for $105,000.” (emphasis mine).
#Choice on Earth Christmas cards.
#The movie “The Last Temptation of Christ” depicts a scene where Jesus fantasies having sex with Mary–his mother.
Trust me, if I had the time today, the list would be much longer.
I am particulary interested in the virtual silence of my people on this issue. We claim to be very religious, however our silence in effect supports this hypocrisy. Here are some stats pulled from BookerRising:
Religious Background: 71% Protestant, 15% non-denominational Christian, 7% Catholic, 4% no religion, 2% Muslim, 1% other
Evangelical Christianity: 62% say the Bible is God’s literal word
Islam: 40% (plural majority) of U.S. Muslims are black
Religious Service Attendance: 41% attend every week, 22% a few times a year, 19% once or twice a month, 12% almost every week, 6% never
USA Has Special Protection From God: 58% yes, 28% no, 14% don’t know
USA’s Strength & Success is Based on Religious Faith: 69% yes, 28% no, 3% don’t know
One Must Believe in God to Be Moral: 69% yes, 25% no, 6% don’t know
Are USA’s Morals On Wrong Track: 87% yes
Support School Prayer: 79% say yes
This has nothing to do with being Right wing, Left wing, chicken wing, or whatever. This has everything to do with how WE value what we claim to believe.
I’ return to this issue in the near future.
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