FOLLOWING the news this week that Irish police have arrested seven Muslims suspected of conspiracy to murder Swedish artist Lars Vilks who drew Big Mo’s head on the body of a pooch, the “offensive” cartoon has been given another airing in Sweden.
Vilks' drawing that led to Muslim fury
According to this report, leading Swedish newspapers yesterday published the cartoon as a sign of solidarity with Vilks.
Justifying its decision to reproduce the Modogtoon, Dagens Nyheter said in an editorial:.
Lars Vilks is not alone in this conflict. A threat against him is, in the end, a threat against all Swedish people.
The four men and three women accused of plotting Vilk’s assassination were arrested on Tuesday in the towns of Cork and Waterford in an operation coordinated with US and European security agencies.
Vilks has a 100,000-dollar (74,000-euro) bounty on his head from an Al-Qaeda-linked group.
One wonders how much more would the bounty would have been had Vilks put Mad Mo’s mug on porker.
Dagens Nyheter called on the Swedish state to give Vilks:
All the protection he needs.
It said authorities must take action:
Against an attack aiming at one of our most fundamental rights, freedom of expression.
The Expressen tabloid also published the cartoon with a picture of Vilks. The paper said:
Expressen decided to publish the drawing for two reasons: to allow readers to see the controversial work and to defend freedom of expression which is more and more threatened.
'What don't we want? Halal menus!'
UPDATE: See this report for more details on the Vilks conspiracy.
Meanwhile, we have learned that a French food chain’s decision to introduce halal-only menus at some of its outlets is proving about as popular as a fag-machine in a fitness centre.
According to this report around 70 angry Frenchies wearing pig masks invaded the Villeurbanne branch of Quick after it decided to strip pork products from its menu in order to serve the religious needs of the local population.
Protesters said it was unacceptable that a chain of restaurants should exclude and segregate the French in their own country.
HAT TIP: BarrieJohn (Modog) and Alan (piggies)
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
March 11th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
“A threat against him is, in the end, a threat against all Swedish people.”
Amen! Not just Sweden, but the world.
March 11th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
You’ve got to say one thing about these fundamentalists: they certainly know how to ensure that “offensive” material disappears, never to be seen again!
March 11th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Sorry. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the above story, but I nearly cried laughing at this evangelical website. Now, I would normally advise against Flash intros and overwhelming sound on a website, but hey, sometimes it just works. Not.
http://www.evangelcathedral.net/
March 11th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Perhaps Lars intended to draw a centaur with a beard and rag-hat and the results were simply accidental.
March 11th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Marcus, you bad puppy! I forgot to disengage my surround sound system when I checked out that site, and now not only am I partially deaf, but have developed a quiver down my left leg and a tic in one eye. But hey, for all that sound and fury, I’m still as godless as ever I was. More so, come to think about it …
March 11th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
I was just thinking, Marcus. If Christianity really were half as magical as that intro makes it seem, none of us would be hanging around here.
March 11th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Sorry about that, Barry. Hope you are feeling better soon.
Here’s another one for you from the same company. It’s quite openly and unashamedly all about how to fleece your congregation for every penny they’ve got. Xtians, don’t you just love ‘em!!!
http://www.churchgift.com/
(By the way, Barry. Do you ever get any of the emails I send via the Contact section of this site?)
March 11th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
What I want to see is a cartoon of a Mo-headed piglet being mounted by a frisky pooch.
Any artists out there?
March 11th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
I’m curious about how the offended Muslims know that the cartoon is a depiction of Mohammed? As far as I know, no pictures were ever drawn of the man from life, so any images of him are just conjecture (much like pictures of Jesus portray him as a handsome male specimen of the artist’s particular culture).
As far as the offended know, any depiction claiming to be of Mohammed is just a picture of a bearded man in a turban. Or is there an unwritten agreement among the faithful that any painting or drawing of a man with a thick black beard and bushy eyebrows is necessarily of Mohammed?
March 11th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
This putting someone’s head on the body of a dog thing, I don’t remember David Bowie fans ever getting all up tight about it.
On a more serious note, I am encouraged to see that the tide is turning and people are starting to realise that freedom of expression is something that is worth sticking up for and that it is those who are against it that are the bad guys.
March 11th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
Over the years all of us on this website have been made aware of the weekly things that ‘offend’ muslims.
Here is a suggestion. Why don’t we try to deliberately offend them? My reasoning is that no matter what people do to appease them it’s always wrong. So we may as well get some fun from it.
I am away to develop a pork flavoured t-shirt.
March 12th, 2010 at 3:23 am
Mmmmmmmm!
Full English, please.
I can’t see the harm in a business reacting to local demand. In this case I think a national chain should have offered an alternative menu however.
On the subject of Motoons. Why don’t Hanna-Barbera make a new super hero series?
“Mohammed in the 21st Century”.
March 12th, 2010 at 9:32 am
“religious needs of the local population”? shouldn’t that be “demands”? Nobody needs religion.
March 13th, 2010 at 1:03 am
$100,000 bounty for that tame ass cartoon. I propose we have a contest for who can get the biggest bounty on their heads!!
Don’t underestimate me, I’m quite an artist. Maybe I’d do a toon of Muhammed gently consuming a pig’s special sausage while Allah is giving him a prostate exam with his most sensitive instrument. And a sad faced camel in the background with a dialogue bubble that says, “I’m feeling neglected”.
NeoWolfe
March 15th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
NeoWolfe
allah, mo, pig, camel, daisy chain.