Miscellanea Agnostica

Cartoons of Muhammad have drawn the ire of Pakistan’s courts, so that country — packed to the rafters as it is with childish, raging lunatic Islamist extremists — has blocked access to Facebook within its borders. The Los Angeles Times reports on this juvenile reaction (WebCite cached article):

It was a Facebook campaign meant to make a stand for free speech. But in Pakistan, a contest encouraging users of the social-networking site to submit caricatures of the prophet Muhammad has been viewed as blasphemous, prompting a court-ordered nationwide ban on the website Wednesday. …

The ruling was triggered by a campaign on Facebook asking users to post images of Islam’s founder on a page called “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day!”

The campaign was aimed at expressing solidarity with the creators of the Comedy Central television show “South Park,” which recently drew the ire of a radical Muslim group for depicting Muhammad in a bear suit during an episode earlier this year.

I blogged about this particular event back when it happened. This contest also follows attacks on Lars Vilks, which I’ve blogged about more than once, and on the heels of continued Muslim outrage over the 2005 Jyllands-Posten cartoons.

I will, of course, continue my policy of posting some of the cartoons that have so enraged Muslims, as my own act of defiance against them, and to show my own support for free speech around the world. Muslims’ demand that everyone else in the world — Muslim and non-Muslim alike — obey their own metaphysical prohibition against depicting Muhammad, is not only unreasonable, it’s irrational and childish.

There is no amount of reasoning with them on the matter … so I have no intention of trying to reason with them about it. I will simply continue posting the cartoons they find offensive, as long as they keep stamping and fuming over their existence. There is a way to make these cartoons go away … and that’s to stop raging and fuming over their existence. I wonder if Muslims will ever find the fortitude and maturity to follow that strategem?

Tags: bombhead, cartoon controversy, cartoons, draw muhammad day, everybody draw muhammad day, facebook, Islam, islamism, islamists, Jyllands-Posten cartoons, jyllands-posten muhammad cartoons controversy, lahore, lars vilks, muh-hund, muhammad, muhammad cartoons, muslim, muslims, pakistan, pakistani, south park

Just a few days ago I blogged about Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks being attacked over his cartoons, which had depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a dog. Muslims enraged by his cartoons have decided to ratchet up both the violence and the immaturity, and tried to burn down his home. The CBC reports on this latest childish Muslim rampage (WebCite cached article):

The home of a Swedish artist whose 2007 drawing of the Prophet Muhammad offended Muslims has been subjected to a suspected arson attack after another incident in which he enraged Muslims.

Lars Vilks, from Nyhamnslage in southern Sweden, was not at home during the attack and no injuries were reported.

The attack failed, but Muslim anger over his “Muh-hund” cartoons appears not to have relented. As I promised in my previous entry on the subject, I will repost incendiary cartoons that have Muslims in a tizzy. As often as you people keep stamping and fuming over these cartoons, I will continue to repost them.

Maybe someday you childish, raging Muslims will figure out what the Streisand effect is, and realize the best way to handle things that offend you is not to scream, holler, riot, attack, maim, burn and kill over them … but rather, to ignore them. Your fury only serves to call attention to things that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. It’s time for you all to grow up and figure that out.

Hat tip: AntiBible Project on Delphi Forums.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Tags: arson, cartoons, childishness, dog, immaturity, Islam, juvenile, lars vilks, muh-hund, muhammad, muhammad dog, muslim, muslims, nyhamnslage, nyhamnslage sweden, offense, sweden

If anyone is unsure of the the immaturity of Islam and the inability and unwillingness of its adherents to accept there are non-Muslims in the world, we have another example, in an attack on a cartoonist over his depiction of Mohammad, as reported by the (UK) Telegraph (WebCite cached article):

Lars Vilks, who depicted the Prophet Mohammad with the body of a dog in 2007, said he was headbutted by a man sitting on the front row as he spoke at the University of Uppsala, about 44 miles from Stockholm.

“He head-butted me and I fell into the wall and lost my glasses,” Mr Vilks said. He added he was unharmed.

A spokesman for Uppsala police said about 20 people tried to attack Mr Vilks after interrupting his lecture, adding that the police had to intervene to stop them. Two people were detained.

Yes, folks — this is the “Religion of Peace” in action!

Vilks’s cartoons were not directly connected with the the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoon controversy, but in the minds of some, they have fused. And as I blogged just a few months ago, there are lots of Muslims who are still hung up on those, too.

Isn’t it time for Muslims worldwide to finally just grow up, already, and get over this notion that they get to control what other people say and do?

In defiance of these violent hyperreligionists, I’ve included one of Vilk’s cartoons in this post, above, as well as the “Bombhead” cartoon by Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. I plan to post these cartoons every time I have to address this controversy, in protest against the violence perpetrated by Muslims against others, because of them. The more you guys rage, fume, attack and destroy, the more these cartoons get posted. See how that works?

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Tags: bombhead, cartoon, cartoonist, cartoonists, cartoons, free speech, hyperreligious, Islam, islamism, islamist, islamists, lars vilks, muslim, muslims, religion of peace, religionism, religionist, religionists, sweden, university of uppsala, uppsala, uppsala sweden

A frequently-unnoticed — by the mass media — issue behind terror attacks is their motivation. Specifically, the mass media tend not to review it too closely. This failure leads people to assume that terrorists are driven by some kind of repression: sometimes political, sometimes socio-economic, sometimes both. A common version of this assumption is that Islamic terrorism is driven by the Palestinian conflict, and a result of Israel’s repression of Muslims. As I’ve mentioned before, the facts show that this is simply not true. And the other day a mass media outlet weighed in on this, in conjunction with the recent failed Times Square bombing attempt. The New York Times Lede blog reports (WebCite cached article):

On Wednesday a Reuters wire report [cached] on the background of Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the Times Square bomb case [cached], called him “educated and well-heeled.” That fact is stated as if it is something of a surprise that this young professional, a full-fledged citizen of Western society, might have attempted a terrorist attack. But haven’t educated sons of privilege been behind almost every recent terror attack on the West? …

Less than five months ago, similar questions were being asked about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who left a live of relative ease in Nigeria and London for Yemen, before trying to blow up a jet over Detroit on Christmas Day.

The Lede blog entry offers a list of other sons of privilege who engaged in terror attacks. An examination of most of these occidental attacks reveals that these young men have almost nothing in common; they are from different countries, different ethnicities, have different native languages, etc. The one thing they do have in common are their age (they’re all relatively young), gender (i.e. male), and religion (they’re all Sunni Muslims).

Hmm.

I wonder what all of that might mean. Ideas, anyone?

P.S. Mosque leaders in the New York City metro and Fairfield county areas have, to date, denied that the Times Square suspect has been involved in any of their congregations, and claim that they do not know Shahzad. That may or may not be true; they certainly have every reason to wish to denounce and disavow him, regardless of whether or not any of them have ever met him. But even if it is — and Shahzad did not attend mosque regularly or at all — it does not mean he was not religious. It is possible to be a “religious ‘solitary’” or to practice a religion alone or in a family group, without being involved in any organization.

Photo credit: The (UK) Guardian.

Tags: failed attack, failed bombing, Islam, muslim, muslims, new york city, new york NY, Religion, religionism, religionist, religionists, represssion, terror, terror attack, terror attacks, terrorism, terrorist, times square, times square bombing

An example of the problem with religion in general, has been revealed in glaring detail this weekend, in Times Square, of all places. The AP (via Google News) reports on a failed Islamist-terrorist attack in New York City (WebCite cached article):

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility in a video released Sunday for the attempted car bomb attack in Times Square in New York City.

In the 1 minute, 11 second video allegedly released by the Pakistani Taliban, the group says the attack is revenge for the death of its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, and the recent slayings of the top leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq — Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri — who were killed by U.S. and Iraqi troops last month north of Baghdad.

An unidentified speaker on the tape, uncovered by the U.S-based SITE monitoring group, also says the attack comes in response to American “interference and terrorism in Muslim Countries, especially in Pakistan.”

The skeptic in me realizes this claim of responsibility has yet to be confirmed. So this failed attack might not have been their work. I admit that right up front. However, even if they weren’t responsible for it, they have been responsible for some pretty horrific terrorist attacks in the last week or so … including poisoning a girls’ school in Afghanistan (cached article). Trying to poison schoolgirls? How depraved and amoral can one get?

In any event, this is a sterling example of the problem of confusing spiritual and metaphysical beliefs with objective reality, and assuming them to be a mandate requiring one to inflict them on the planet — by force if necessary. Metaphysics has become deadly, folks … and our enslavement to it simply must end. Now. The sooner the better.

Tags: failed attack, Islam, islamism, islamist, islamists, muslim, muslims, new york city, pakistani taliban, Religion, religionism, religionist, religionists, taliban, taliban in pakistan, terror, terror attack, terrorism, terrorist, terrorist attack, terrorists, times square, times square attack

Let me state up-front that I don’t watch the show South Park. What I know about it wouldn’t fill a teaspoon. The only South Park episode I’ve seen in its entirety is “Over Logging.” However, even that little bit tells me the show — and really, its creators (Trey Parker and Matt Stone) — are willing to take on anything. They’ve ridiculed Scientology, any number of celebrities, and even politically-incorrect targets like the handicapped. But when they dared take on Islam, they found themselves the target of a fatwa. And the network that carries their show had to deal with that. Here’s the Los Angeles Times report on some Muslims’ tantrum over it (WebCite cached article):

In its 200 shows, the irreverent animated program “South Park” has mercilessly satirized Christianity, Buddhism, Scientology, the blind and disabled, gay people, Hollywood celebrities and politicians of all persuasions, weathering the resulting protests and threats of boycotts.

But this week, after an ominous threat from a radical Muslim website, the network that airs the program bleeped out all references to the prophet Muhammad in the second of two episodes set to feature the holy figure dressed in a bear costume. The incident provides the latest example that media conglomerates are still struggling to balance free speech with safety concerns and religious sensitivities, six years after Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was slain for making a film critical of Islamic society. …

The network may have thought it had no choice after revolutionmuslim.com, the website of a fringe group, delivered a grim warning about last week’s episode, which depicted Muhammad dressed as a bear.

“We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show,” the posting said. A photo of Van Gogh’s body lying in the street was included with the original posting, which has been unavailable to some Web users since news of the item broke earlier this week. “This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.”

I won’t say anything about the illogic of making a threat against people, then saying it’s “not a threat”; a threat is a threat is a threat, and it doesn’t cease being a threat merely because you later say it’s “not a threat.”

This wouldn’t be the first time Muslims have threatened people over things like this … a while ago I blogged on the controversy over the film Fatwa by a Dutch parliamentarian. The reference to Theo van Gogh is an ominous one; he’s another Dutch movie maker whose short film, Submission, triggered his murder back in 2004. Then there’s the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoon controversy which I’ve also blogged about, and which continues to spark violence, even years later.

These people are deadly fucking serious about not dissing their Prophet. I’m not sure on what rational grounds they think everything in the universe can be lampooned and satirized by South Park, but not Islam … but they think so nonetheless. It’s all very juvenile.

By way of support for South Park’s creators, I’m putting one of the Jyllands-Posten cartoons here. It’s time the world’s Muslims finally all grew up and started acting like mature adults.

Lede photo credit: sashafatcat.

Tags: bleeped out, fatwa, immature, immaturity, Islam, islamic extremism, islamic fundamentalism, islamic fundamentalist, islamic fundamentalists, islamism, juvenile, jyllands-posten muhammad cartoons controversy, matt stone, muhammad, muslim, muslim revolution, muslims, Religion, religionism, religionist, religionists, south park, theo van gogh, threat, threaten, threatening, threats, trey parker

Here we have yet another journalism FAIL. WTVF-5 in Nashville teased a report that supposedly would link a local Muslim group with terrorism … then finally aired it, and the result was that there was no apparent connection (WebCite cached version). However, some viewers — apparently of the Christian persuasion — didn’t actually catch that last part, and they reacted as one would expect a bunch of outraged, sanctimonious, hyperreligious nutjobs to react, as the Nashville Scene blog reports (WebCite cached article):

After Sensationalized TV Report, Vandals Strike Nashville Mosque

Vandals spray-painted insults on a mosque overnight and left a hate-filled letter to Nashville’s Muslims. Islamic leaders blame Channel 5′s sensationalized two-night report about a crackpot organization’s unfounded accusations of terrorist ties against a Middle Tennessee Muslim community.

“Muslims Go Home” and a Crusade-style cross were scrawled across the front of Al-Farooq Islamic Center on Nolensville Road, says Salaad Nur, a spokesman. He says the mosque, which primarily serves members of the Somali community, has contacted the police and the FBI.

But that isn’t all the vandals did:

“They also left a letter at the youth center that says Muslims are friends of Satan and we are here to destroy the United States and to destroy Israel and things of that nature,” he says. “We’re a little bit shaken up. I hope this is just a scare and things don’t get any worse than this.”

According to successive updates of this blog entry, neither Channel 5 nor the other local TV stations have done much to acknowledge the possibility of a connection between this report and the vandalism. Hmm. I wonder why?

Note to Christians: The Crusades ended centuries ago. The successive campaigns against “the Saracen” are long over. Not all Muslims are terrorists trying to wipe out you, or Christianity, or Israel. Some of them — really! — just want to live their lives in peace. (Yeah, I know about Islam being “the Religion of Peace” and all that … but still, while some are terrorists, not all are.) Just stop it already. OK?

Hat tip: Romenesko blog at Poynter Online.

Tags: Christianity, christians, crusader, crusades, Islam, islamville, journalism, journalism fail, mosque, muslim, muslims, nashville, nashville TN, newschannel 5, satan, vandal, vandalism, vandals, wtvf

Anyone out there who was concerned that the onset of the 21st century might have had the effect of diminishing primitive barbarism in the world, you may now breathe a sigh of relief. Thanks to entrenched hyperreligious thinking, including religiously-inspired hatred of women, primitive barbarism lives on! A 16-year-old girl in Bangladesh was punished for — get this! — having been raped and impregnated. The (UK) Guardian reports on this event (WebCite cached article):

Rape victim receives 101 lashes for becoming pregnant

A 16-year-old girl who was raped in Bangladesh has been given 101 lashes for conceiving during the assault.

The girl’s father was also fined and warned the family would be branded outcasts from their village if he did not pay.

According to human rights activists, the girl, who was quickly married after the attack, was divorced weeks later after medical tests revealed she was pregnant.

The girl was raped by a 20-year-old villager in Brahmanbaria district in April last year.

Note, it’s not uncommon for rape victims, anywhere in the world, to choose not to file a report. Of course, her living as she did in a society full of delusional, hyperreligious, wild-eyed, foaming-at-the-mouth Islamist zealots, that probably only further discouraged her. But the Guardian goes on to add:

Her rape emerged after her pregnancy test and Muslim elders in the village issued a fatwa insisting that the girl be kept in isolation until her family agreed to corporal punishment.

Now, if you’re probably wondering what kind of horrific punishment was meted out to the rapist, if the victim had been whipped for having gotten pregnant. Well, not to worry. Those Muslim elders took care of him, all right:

Her rapist was pardoned by the elders.

Yes, indeed, they bestowed the kindness and loving-mercy of Islam on that rapist. I have to hand it to the self-proclaimed “religion of peace.” Boy, you sure kept “the peace” all right. You whipped a crime victim and pardoned a criminal. Why, I can think of no better way to keep the peace, than that!

All right, enough sarcasm. Does anyone finally see how truly demented religious thinking can be, if it’s not reined in by common sense?

Hat tip: Unreasonable Faith blog.

Tags: 101 lashes, bangladesh, brahmanbaria, brahmanbaria district, fatwa, Islam, islamic extremism, islamic fundamentalism, islamism, lashes, misogynist, misogyny, muslim, muslims, rape, rapist, whipping, women