I am sure many of you are aware of this already. Zapiro has upset some people who follow a certain religion and this has brought out a whole lot of stuff about ‘respecting’ peoples religions. He did the cartoon as a result of “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day Campaign”, which was started to highlight the the danger that artists etc. face. The M&G and Zapiro have faced all sorts of threats relating to the cartoon…I think it is just crazy! You can ready more here.
I personally find both cartoons funny since I believe all religions to be laughable if not ridiculous. The first however seems to have been done with the intent to provoke; which I think is a slippery slope.
sorry dudes, i would like to throw a spanner in the works here.
the islam-punters dont draw old muhammed themselves, coz the dude himself said, that they arent allowed to draw him, lest his image be idolised. i appreceate the idea, and give them kudos where due.
now all religion is bollocks, but i think zapiro was maybe poking a bit too hard. the fact that muslims dont draw mohammed, and then would like other people not to do the same, can surely be respected.
if old zaps had to draw jc shagging mary, then the xtians would be up in arms as well.
i can absolutely appreceate the humour. but i think it was a little in bad taste.
I disagree. Ridicule is the only sane response to the patently ridiculous. And as long as people continue to bow to the indefensible demand that the beliefs of others be respected, so long will religions continue to pursue and accumulate political favour. The sooner they learn that their inalienable right to believe does not include automatic protection of the content of their beliefs, the better because it opens the door to the possibility of free, open and constructive dialogue. Suppression does just the opposite.
like i said, all religion is bollocks. and islam sure has its collection of stupidities and horrors it carries. but the thing is, its not just the imam’s throwing toys. there are people who are genuinely hurt and saddened by a cartoon like that. i totally think its hilarious, but one needs to practice a bit of retraint and respect as well.
as much as we get up in arms when the xtians have posters that imply that one cannot be good without god, as we expect them to give us our place in the sun, we must b3e sensitive to other people’s beliefs.
as much as we can go tell people our views, and help them along if they wish to be free of their religious shackles. we have no right to shove their faces in the mud, cause we think its silly.
i have no restraint about woo-woos who put themselves out there, and make themselves available to my ridicule. but i dont deliberately go out and sit eating bacon on the kerb in front of temple. that’s quite immature and selfish.
and as much as islam has its quota of woonuts out there, it doesnt give anyone a right to take the piss, especially about something so very much ingrained in their religion. rather take the piss about the bombings and the treatment of their women. drawing mohammed, is just causing kak without any real result being achieved. apart from causing unhappiness all round.
just cause im an atheist, doesnt make me an insensitive douchebag with no respect for other people’s beliefs. if they want to pray to allah, they are welcome to it. there are millions of innocent muslims in the world, that doest deserve to see their prophet depicted like that. and as much as i agree that religion needs to be rooted out, insulting and upsetting the followers is not the way to do it.
Why on earth should we respect ridiculous nonsense? If the ANC Youth League feels “hurt” when cartoons of wee Julius are published, does that mean that cartoonists should desist? Why have a different criterion to measure religious cartoons?
What is at stake here is freedom of expression, and if cartoonists have to hold back just in case someone’s feelings may be hurt, it would indeed be a serious setback for media freedom. That is what this drawing Muhammad day is all about - proving that journalists will not allow Muslims to intimidate them.
How about jc raping lady justice?
We all know zappy can get away with a lot, so let me throw a bobbejaan size spanner in the works. Would David Bullard have been dismissed if his surname was Shapiro? Where do we draw the line?
The raping justice cartoon you point to is in fact substantially more serious than merely portraying Muhammad; considering that Zuma had been acquitted on rape charges, it could be construed as libel.
Where to draw the line? That is called discretion. Blanket bans are the hideout of people who are too lazy to apply their discretion.
jc raping lady jsutice, its fair, cause jc is a public figure. he put himself out there, willingly and knowingly. so he knows that he will be in the spotlight. so with juju. they are politicians. political satire has been around for a while now, and politicians and public figures know it comes with the territory.
if muslims had no issue with muhammed being drawn, then taking the mickey would cool. i promise you, if zaps drews a pic like this regarding jesus, the xtians would be raging. fair enough. but for the muslims, its about as bad a taboo as drawing jesus shafting a goat in the ass. its not needed, and as much as i support the idea behind it, it not needed. there are a myriad of ways to get his point accross, i think zaps just took a cheap shot. it would still anger the muslim community, but it wont be kicking the root of their faith in the balls without need.
its shit stirring for the sake of it.
my whole argument is just, have respect. i expect the religious to have respect by not knocking on my door, and stopping me on the street and wanting to convert me. i dont go and paper the cars of church-goers with atheist propaganda either. its not needed. there is no need to exert energy with poking at something that doesnt need poking at. there are plenty of issues in our country that deserve his attentions and artistic skill more, and can benefit more from gaining public attention.
to me its just being a bit insensitive. if the fact that muhammed cant be drawn, has caused some hectic outcry in our country, or caused someone harm, then i would say, go for it. to my knowledge, there hasnt been anything like that. if there was, and i missed it, i will gladly review my opinion. if the cartoon was just for the sake of stating the obvious and getting sensation out of it, i would say the hoo-ha is not worth it.
No way, no how should we ever allow anyone to dictate what we are allowed to say, draw, write or think. If the muslims think they should not draw mo, fearing that they will suddenly start worshipping the pic, then they shouldn’t draw him. But they may not tell me not to do it. Had they asked me not to do it, I might have considered it. But they did not ask. They demanded. They threatened death and destruction. The murder of innocents. They threatened the repeat of 911, 7/7 and Madrid. They issued Fatwa’s on the heads of the original Danish cartoonists and editors and threatened the destruction of the whole of Denmark. They threatened terrorist attacks on the Danish and Dutch teams at the swc. And if you think they are just kidding and still deserve respect, think of Theo Van Gogh, slaughtered for criticising the brutal treatment of women by islam.
No, they don’ deserve respect and they certainly don’t have the right to crap on our RIGHT to freedom of speech.
Religious zealots have the right to go ahead and headbutt the floor, hail mary and cross themselves, barmitzwa the night away and worship holy cows, but they do NOT have the right to tell me to do the same. If we bend to one we have to bend to all. I will not bend. neither should Zapiro, and neither should you.
I disagree. It’s (in my opinion very good) satire around the events of draw muhammad day
It’s not just random poking fun with religion, it’s not offense for the sake of it, it’s important social comment on recent happenings and the fact that Islam is treated special when it comes to the media. This is not right or fair and unless people speak up about it, it won’t change. The fact that muslims made a fuss over the danish cartoons and succeeded to scare people into treating them special should not have happened and the media is taking back it’s rights.
Well, if Islam can be treated special, Pastafarians can be special too! >:D >:D
gothcatgirl, did you know that as a Pastafarian, I am deeply offended by your blatant disregard for basic spelling rules. Please use a capital letter at the beginning of sentences, or else.
As a fellow pastafarian, I would just like to point out that the holy pasta as depicted in the sacred sketches is unclothed. I therefore see it as an insult that anyone should wear clothing! I will in fact be severely offended if I forthwith see anyone with any form of garb covering their bodies. This includes burkas.
Respect is earned, not commanded. It is foolish and indeed dangerous to accord respect simply because someone demands it. Ideas must be allowed to stand or fall on their own merits, not propped up by protectionisms for the sake of popularity and/or peaceful coexistence. The former is the way of sceptical inquiry, just as it is in science. If fear of giving offence had any validity as a reason to avoid presenting a different view, we’d still be living in the Dark Ages. In fact, that’s exactly why theocracies are often indistinguishable from Dark Age fiefdoms.
And it is an unfortunate state of affairs that sometimes the only way to get your message across effectively is to be confrontational or provocative about it. Zapiro’s cartoons don’t insult a people; they insult – as rightly they should – a ridiculous idea that those people believe for no good reason to be true. It is only because those same people choose to measure their identity by that ridiculous idea that they feel insulted. Part of those cartoons’ message is to confront that silly conflation.
A bit off the topic, but it is worth mentioning that Zapiro is not prone to religious bias - he has on previous occasions caused displeasure among Jews and Christians as well.
if that is the case, then i can see the need for awareness to be shed upon it. in retrospect, i can see that islam does get special treatment in the media. i concurr that then. go zaps!! i have never seen it in that way, i am, then, duly enlightened. ;D
gothcatgirl, did you know that as a Pastafarian, I am deeply offended by your blatant disregard for basic spelling rules. Please use a capital letter at the beginning of sentences, or else. :P
drawing mohammed, is just causing kak without any real result being achieved. apart from causing unhappiness all round
I’d just like to point out (post enlightenment), that you fail to make an important distinction here: Drawing Mohammed doesn’t cause shit. People trying to force the world to do what they want it to do, is “causing kak”. Not drawing some cartoons.
My personal take on this is, sure, making fun of Christians would raise (and has) some eyebrows and cause debate. But it doesn’t routinely lead to violence and bloodshed, and if it did, that would be WRONG and would only drive me to ridicule them even further. Muslims could also take a leaf out of your suggestions and appreciate that they’re part of a larger society, exercise some tolerance, and cannot run amok whenever someone else does something that hurts their little feelings.
