How can anyone say Islam is tolerant? Here is yet another example of how intolerant this religion is: a cartoonist had to go into hiding, change her identity, fearing for her life, because she did something that upset a religious leader from “The Religion of Peace”?
This is terrorism.
The story:
Cartoonist Molly Norris Changes Name, Moves after Fatwa
Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris, who declared May 20 to be “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day”, has gone into FBI protection following a fatwa from radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki calling for her murder.
Molly Norris drew a cartoon in support of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, whose own cartoon depicting a South Parkified version of the Prophet Mohammed was censored by Comedy Central.
Molly Norris’ cartoon, which declared May 20 to be “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day”, was not a real-life call to action (she was organizing no such event), but it took on a life of its own, spawning Facebook groups with which Molly Norris was not affiliated.
You may have noticed that Molly Norris’ comic is not in the paper this week. That’s because there is no more Molly.The gifted artist is alive and well, thankfully. But on the insistence of top security specialists at the FBI, she is, as they put it, “going ghost”: moving, changing her name, and essentially wiping away her identity.
Source: seattleweekly.com
Most comment threads attached to versions of this story revolve around how inappropriate it is that words and pictures are met with real-life violence or threats of violence.
Also mentioned in these discussions (and rightly so) is that Islam does not have a monopoly on religiously-inspired acts of violence.
However, with all that in mind, it’s known that radical Islamists do indeed lash out at perceived slights from the western media: just ask Lars Vilks. Whether or not such radical elements should or shouldn’t respond to media items with violence is a theoretical question, which is fine, but the fact of the matter is that they do. That’s the real-life context in which Norris’ situation is playing out.
In light of this, should Molly Norris have seen this coming? Should she have expected her cartoon to take hold the way it did? What do you think was her ideal outcome from publishing the cartoon? Most importantly, should she have put the cartoon for publication, even knowing the risks involved?
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/molly-norris-goes-hiding-after-draw-mohammed-day-threats-2665006.html
Jack: So, because we know in advance that they are violent, we should tip-toe around them so we don’t upset them? If we do upset them, then the resulting violence is our fault, because we should have known better?
How about this: how about the world starts holding Islamic leaders accountable for threatening to kill and telling their followers to kill?
How about we stop letting Islam hide under the shield of “Religious Freedom”, stop giving it a pass on the grounds of “multi-culturalism”?
How many things like this have to happen before Americans become bold enough to say, “No. We do not any more Islam in the United States. Just calling itself a religion is not enough for it to be accepted into our society. It is toxic and hateful and intolerant and we will not accept it, will not allow it to grow here.”
Also, I am so very weary of people following up every story of the latest Islamic atrocity with, “Of course, other religions do stuff like this, too.”
No they don’t – not on this level of frequency and violence, not even close. Stop excusing Islam. Stop accepting what is unacceptable. Stop letting Islam intimidate and bully people.