BE prepared for further juvenile displays of rage by the Magic Carpet Brigade over a plan by the Danish Free Press Society to sell 1,000 signed copies of Kurt Westergaard’s iconic Mo-bomb cartoon.
“The image won Kurt Westergaard international fame, but it has also forced him to live under constant police protection”, the Society says on its website.
Westergaard is the Society’s President. Despite threats and concrete murder plots planned by Islamists against the cartoonist, he has never expressed any regret and never apologised for exercising freedom of expression.
Two Tunisians were arrested in Denmark last year on suspicion of planning to murder Westergaard, but later released without trial after they appealed a government order for their expulsion on national security grounds.
The Huffington Post reports that Westergaard enjoys the backing of free speech and free press advocates around the globe in this regard.
A notable example of one such advocate, just this week, is NATO Secretary General and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who defended the drawings in 2006 and who forewent any diplomatic gesture or apology in Turkey at the Alliance of Civilizations meeting, despite earlier reports that said an apology was forthcoming.
During a panel discussion at Çırağan Palace in Istanbul, Rasmussen said:
I would never myself depict any religious figure, including the Prophet Mohammed, in a way that could hurt other people’s feelings. I respect Islam as one of the world’s major religions.
He added:
My position is clear before, during and after the crisis. I condemn action that aims to demonize people on their religious or ethnic background.
That said, Rasmussen also asserted that:
All kinds of censorship are the enemy of dialogue and enhance prejudice. All kinds of prejudice have to confronted, not ignored. That is why freedom of expression is a precondition for open dialogue.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
April 10th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Why does everyone kiss Islam’s Ass?
Death Threats? And we try to appeal?
We are a weak Nation.
April 10th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Are the 1,000 people who buy the signed copies of the cartoon going to be threatened ?
April 10th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Wow dude that is just too funny!
RT
http://www.web-privacy.us.tc
April 10th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Is it any wonder that Muslims take offence so easily when their own prophet had such a short fuse!
April 10th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
er, the cartoons aren’t that good
April 10th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Why should anyone apologise? Why should the free world give up to these stupid fanatics demand to go back to middle ages? Religion has been always the root cause of every evil and stupidity, but until humanity learns to be skeptic and rational, this barbaric craze will sadly remain with us.
April 10th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
I’ve said it before someplace. It’s basically a cost – benefit equation.
Appeasing the muslims basically has very little to no cost. A few words here, a show of support/solidarity there, and you’re good.
Standing up for free speech in the face of muslims, however, has a high cost, as has been repeatedly demonstrated. Lives will be lost, property will be damaged, international tensions will be raised, and there’ll generally be outrage from all sectors.
So; supporting free speech = happy rationals, angry muslims, which then = damaged property and lost lives.
However, appeasing muslims and quelling free speech = happy muslims, angry rationals. And we rationals, atheists, freethinkers and (for the most part) christians and other religions, don’t go around blowing shit up when we’re angry, and we certainly don’t have control over several countries that can exert influence on international politics.
Lionel Shriver perhaps said it best:
April 10th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Religious nuts, of ALL varieties, shouldn’t have any say in anything. Especially the Christians and the Islamists.
April 10th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Those who do not learn from history tend to repeat its mistakes. Presumably the persons now arguing for the appeasement of religious terrorists (there’s another kind?) are unaware of how well such a policy worked for Neville Chamberlain at Munich.
April 10th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Did anyone else spot the error in the second cartoon?
She should be giving him head!
April 10th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Appeasement only works short term and the longer it continues the greater the cost when you eventually have to stand up to these bullies.
Has anyone here seen the letters from Islamic countries included in the latest NSS e-newsletter? The good news appears to be that if and when the rubber hits the road, it is possible that a significant number of their people will be on our side.
April 10th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Whilst many Islamic countries still stone women & apostasy carries the death penalty it is unsurprising that the citizens of those countries could be as fanatical as their states.
April 13th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
http://www.chick.com/reading/t.....042_01.asp
the link is to one of those ‘tract’ cartoons it seems to depict Mohamed burning in hell begging for forgiveness at judgement; I only mention it because if the Islamic world likes getting angry at cartoons it would be poetic if they felt like venting at the morons that push these idiotic mini comics.
If you are bored you could do worse than spending a few minuets looking at the large collection of drivel on this site, some of them are very special.
January 2nd, 2010 at 3:29 pm
This whol furror shows the difference between Christ-followers and Islamists. Christ-followers love their emenies. islamists try to kill their enemies. It doesn;t say anything about rationalists or atheists, as they can sometimes rationally conclude that it’s OK to kill their enemies too, sometimes not.