(no subject)
Though I don't much care about the whole controversy over the whole "Mohammad Cartoons" thing (although I do find the protests, the reactions to them and the fallout from both of these to be part of a worrying trend), The Daily Kos has an interesting examination of the issue that goes beyond just the traditional free-speech versus respect-for-other's-beliefs argument that is dominating media reporting of the issue at the moment to look for a possible "wag-the-dog" diversion behind it all. (Hat tip to greylock for that and also Depictions of Mohammed Throughout History.)
I just sent this off to Crikey and SMH:
With all the controversy over the Danish Mohammad Cartoons being framed in black-and-white terms of free-speech versus respect-for-other's-beliefs, few people are stopping to ask why, when the cartoons were originally published in November last year (Errata: September 30 last year) and both Muslim and Christian artists have a long history of depicting Mohammad throughout the ages (see here - http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/ - for some examples), why then is this controversy happening now? The Daily Kos has suggested a possible answer to that question here - http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/2/5/13149/60748. Is what we are seeing now nothing more than a wag-the-dog diversion?
I just sent this off to Crikey and SMH:
With all the controversy over the Danish Mohammad Cartoons being framed in black-and-white terms of free-speech versus respect-for-other's-beliefs, few people are stopping to ask why, when the cartoons were originally published in November last year (Errata: September 30 last year) and both Muslim and Christian artists have a long history of depicting Mohammad throughout the ages (see here - http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/ - for some examples), why then is this controversy happening now? The Daily Kos has suggested a possible answer to that question here - http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/2/5/13149/60748. Is what we are seeing now nothing more than a wag-the-dog diversion?