Yesterday was Sunday, so I did the religious thing and watched the Dallas Cowboys on television; they lost.
So I went to see the new British film, THE INVENTION OF LYING, a comedy Directed by and starring Ricky Gervais. Reading the reviews, I thought it would be a Romantic Comedy like GROUNDHOG DAY. It wasn’t; it was an anti religious, nay, an anti- Christian film, on the order of the film, DOGMA,(Directed by Kevin Smith) or that lousy network TV program, THE BOOK OF DANIEL.
Then to cap my religious Sunday, I watched FAMILY GUY trash Jesus, mock Judaism and pat Islam on the head.
This is the ninth episode that I have seen, in which FAMILY GUY has trashed Jesus; once it had Jesus doing a homoerotic shower bathing scene for STEWIE, a la Bathsheba.
All well and good, free speech and all, I am proud of our anti religious,free thinking artists opposing the venal Christians.
Just for the record, if you truly desire to watch an interesting anti Christian film, which is damn good, rent THE LAST VALLEY. starring Michael Caine and Omar Sharif, Written and Directed by James Clavell(who also wrote SHOGUN, TO SIR WITH LOVE and THE GREAT ESCAPE). It is about the Thirty Years War in Germany, between Catholics and Protestants, and has SOMETHING to say about the danger of religion.
I have also viewed anti Jewish work, a tawdy little film, A PRICE ABOVE RUBIES and an episode of FAMILY GUY about PETER GRIFFIN and CHRISTOPHER GRIFFIN going to Las Vegas for a cheap bar mitzvah.
All well and good, free speech and all, I am proud of our anti religious,free thinking artists opposing the venal Jews.
I have seen THE SIMPSONS teasingly mock Buddhism and Hinduism, with HOMER, upon seeing APU’s Hindu shrine,state that APU must have been out taking a whizz when religions were handed out. I have also seen a SIMPSON’s episode in which the great Lord Buddha sits along side God, tossing popcorn chicken into God’s mouth.
All well and good, free speech and all, I am proud of our anti religious,free thinking artists opposing the venal Buddhists and Hindus.
But remarkably, I have never seen any of our free thinking artists attack, mock or tease Islam. Imagine that. In fact, I have never seen a cartoon depiction of either Allah, or Muhammad by American anti religious free thinkers.
I wonder why?
In the old days, we had Americans such as Edward R. Murrow, or Alistar Cooke commenting on American social values. They extolled courage, courage against McCarthyism and Nazism, courage for free speech.
Ever since the Dutch film maker Theo Van Gogh had his throat slit on an Amsterdam street, by an Islamic fanatic upset about his attacks on Islam, our brave free thinkers have failed to tease, or mock,or defile, or attack, or satirize or taunt or doubt Islam.
In a world of venal Catholics, venal Christians, venal Mormons, venal Jews, venal Buddhists,venal Hindus, there are remarkably No venal Muslims to our free thinking artists.
Yale University, that bastion of free thinking in our nation, the birthplace of DOONESBURY, is self censoring itself when it comes to Islam.
Memo to all you self censoring free thinkers, self censorship and cowardice will not serve you if indeed the Islamic terrorists win, and the Ummah is imposed.
The Ummah is the community in Islamic countries to which every believer belongs ; by definition, Christians and Jews are Peoples of the Book.
“n Islam, the People of the Book (Arabic: ??? ??????? ?Ahl al-Kit?b)] are non-Muslim peoples who, according to the Qur’an, received scriptures which were revealed to them by God before the time of Muhammad, most notably Christians and Jews.”
Which means this, that if the ummah does come to the United States, Rev. James Dobson will be honored as one of the People of the Book, just taxed a little more. Whereas Seth MacFarlane and Kevin Smith, if the Ummah comes, will be STONED TO DEATH.
It is so ironic that the only way Jesus, Christians and Jews will get respect from Seth MacFarlane,Kevin Smith and Ricky Gervais is for Islam to win the Clash of Cultures in America.
We now have young, hip commentators commenting on the American scene, such as NEWSWEEK editor, Fareed Zakaria. His advice concerning free speech is this;
“Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, a world affairs columnist and CNN host who serves on Yale’s governing board, said he told Yale that he believed publishing the images would have provoked violence.
“As a journalist and public commentator, I believe deeply in the First Amendment and academic freedom,” Zakaria said. “But in this instance Yale Press was confronted with a clear threat of violence and loss of life.”
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale University has removed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad from an upcoming book about how they caused outrage across the Muslim world, drawing criticism from prominent alumni and a national group of university professors.
Yale cited fears of violence.
Yale University Press, which the university owns, removed the 12 caricatures from the book “The Cartoons That Shook the World” by Brandeis University professor Jytte Klausen. The book is scheduled to be released next week.
A Danish newspaper originally published the cartoons — including one depicting Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban — in 2005. Other Western publications reprinted them.
The following year, the cartoons triggered massive protests from Morocco to Indonesia. Rioters torched Danish and other Western diplomatic missions. Some Muslim countries boycotted Danish products.
Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.
“I think it’s horrifying that the campus of Nathan Halehas become the first place where America surrenders to this kind of fear because of what extremists might possibly do,” said Michael Steinberg, an attorney and Yale graduate.
Steinberg was among 25 alumni who signed a protest letter sent Friday to Yale Alumni Magazine that urged the university to restore the drawings to the book. Other signers included John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, former Bush administration speechwriter David Frum and Seth Corey, a liberal doctor….
Cary Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors, wrote in a recent letter that Yale’s decision effectively means: “We do not negotiate with terrorists. We just accede to their anticipated demands.”
In a statement explaining the decision, Yale University Presssaid it decided to exclude a Danish newspaper page of the cartoons and other depictions of Muhammad after asking the university for help on the issue. It said the university consulted counterterrorismofficials, diplomats and the top Muslim official at the United Nations.
“The decision rested solely on the experts’ assessment that there existed a substantial likelihood of violence that might take the lives of innocent victims,” the statement said.
Republication of the cartoons has repeatedly resulted in violence around the world, leading to more than 200 deaths and hundreds of injuries, the statement said. It also noted that major newspapers in the United states and Britain have declined to print the cartoons.
“Yale and Yale University Press are deeply committed to freedom of speech and expression, so the issues raised here were difficult,” the statement said. “The press would never have reached the decision it did on the grounds that some might be offended by portrayals of the Prophet Muhammad.”
John Donatich, director of Yale University Press, said “…..” it was not a case of censorship because the university did not suppress original content that was not available in other places.”…..
Klausen was surprised by the decision when she learned of it last week. She said scholarly reviewers and Yale’s publication committee comprised of faculty recommended the cartoons be included.
“I’m extremely upset about that,” Klausen said.
The experts Yale consulted did not read the manuscript, Klausen said. She said she consulted Muslim leaders and did not believe including the cartoons in a scholarly debate would spark violence.
Klausen said she reluctantly agreed to have the book published without the images because she did not believe any other university press would publish them, and she hopes Yale will include them in later editions. She argues in the book that there is a misperception that Muslims spontaneously arose in anger over the cartoons when they really were symbols manipulated by those already involved in violence.
Donatich said there wasn’t time for the experts to read the book, but they were told of the context. He said reviewers and the publications committee did not object, but were not asked about the security risk.
Many Muslim nations want to restrict speech to prevent insults to Islam they claim have proliferated since the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, a world affairs columnist and CNN host who serves on Yale’s governing board, said he told Yale that he believed publishing the images would have provoked violence.
“As a journalist and public commentator, I believe deeply in the First Amendment and academic freedom,” Zakaria said. “But in this instance Yale Press was confronted with a clear threat of violence and loss of life.”
That Islamic Terrorist who killed film maker Theo Van Gogh had our Amerucan free thinking artists, intellectuals, NEWSWEEK editors figured out, dead on; slit one throat and you turn them all into cowards.
After seeing Yale cae in, and FAMILY GUY take a pass, one begins to wonder, had an irate Christian fundamentalist slit the throat of Andres Serrano, on a Greenwich Village street in 1988, for his PISS CHRIST(PISS CHRIST is a 1987 Photograph by photographer Andres Serrano. It depicts a small plastic cruxifix submerged in a glass of Serrano’s urine),would there have been any furure anti Christian films like DOGMA or TV programs like FAMILY GUY? Just a random thought as I was watching FAMILY GUY.
SIDEBAR
The Dutch Film Maker, Theo Van Gogh, with his throat slit by Islamic fanatics for mocking Islam. Where Art Thou, Family Guy?