Cowardice is always the wrong move...

...when it comes to dealing with Islamomaniacs.

From Weasel Zippers, citing the Telegraph:

Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which angered Muslims by publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad 10 years ago, will not republish Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons due to security concerns, the only major Danish newspaper not to do so.

“It shows that violence works,” the newspaper stated in its editorial on Friday.

Denmark’s other major newspapers have all republished cartoons from the French satirical weekly as part of the coverage of the attack which killed 12 people in Paris on Wednesday.

Many other European newspapers also republished Charlie Hebdo cartoons to protest against the killings.

When Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons by various artists in September 2005, most of which depict the Prophet Mohammad, it sparked a wave of protests across the Muslim world in which at least 50 people died.

Prophet Ray Bradbury

A few prophetic excerpts from Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury in 1953:

“We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of the other; then all are happy, for there are not mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against.

[…]

“You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred. Ask yourself, What do we want in this country above all? People want to be happy....

[…]

“Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book.  Serenity...Peace... (58-60).

The novel also contains this passage:

"It didn't come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God. Today, thanks to them, you can stay happy all the time, you are allowed to read comics, the good old confessions, or trade journals."

[above citations from the edition published by Ballantine Books, New York, 1987]

We are already living in the dystopia portrayed in Bradbury's prophetic novel.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Geert Wilders's New Anti-Islam Film

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Mohammed The Mole No More

Kes Gray's children's book Who's Poorly Too has been in publication for some eight years and has reported sales of over 40,000 copies. Not exactly a runaway bestseller. Now, because of the recent controversy over Muhammad the Bear, Mr. Gray, in an act termed by some as "self-censorship," will postpone the reprint of the children's book until the mole's name can be changed.

Via this posting at Little Green Footballs and according to this article in the Times of India,

LONDON: First there was Mohammed the Mole and Dipak the Dalmatian . Now there is Morgan the Mole and Dipak the Dalmatian . A British children's author who named his fictitious mole Mohammed and the dog Dipak in an attempt to promote multi-culturalism, has backed away from the first for fear of offending Muslims.

Author Kes Gray said he changed the mole's name after reading about the fate of British school teacher Gillian Gibbons who is in prison in Sudan for allowing her class to name a teddy bear Mohammed.

Gray told The Sunday Times , London that he "had no idea at all of the sensitivities of the name Mohammed until seeing this case in Sudan" and he added that the Hindu and Muslim names for his animals characters had merely been a way to "embrace other cultures...I had no idea it would backfire like this. I was in Egypt this year and everyone was called Mohammed. I just thought it was a popular name".

Apparently, teddy bears themselves don't seem to bother Muslims, particularly if the toys are named after a prophet other than Muhammad — or something like that — because the article in the Times of India concludes as follows:

...10,000 teddies, named Adam the Muslim Prayer Bear, were reportedly bought by Muslim families in Britain to raise money for Sudanese refugees. Adam bear's name is that of another prophet of Islam and at £ 15 a piece, he recites Assalam-o-alaikum when his paws are pressed.

The bears, marketed by the Islamic Society of Britain, to raise funds for charity, have not sparked unease or complaints in the three years they have been sold.

So far, these remain available at Cafe Press:



From Mujahideen Ryder, who has no problem with the naming of teddy bears:

Adam is the name of a Prophet (as), just like Muhammad is a name of the last Prophet (s)....I’d just like to say that there is absolutely nothing wrong in naming a teddy bear Muhammad. I do not agree with what the news is reporting about the incident and what they say the Sudanese protesters are saying. I also believe that there is more to the protests, because who in God’s name would care if a teddy bear was named Muhammad or Adam or Moses or Abraham or Jesus. I mean seriously! You got to be kidding me....

Comment 1 MT Akbar said:

This whole debacle pertaining to the teddy bear is just plain silly. This shows a real lack of confidence and a victim mentality with us Muslims. We jumpt at everything and see offence in every corner now.
I was really surprised when I heard about this and feel sad for the poor teacher. Muslims in UK should do something for her when she gets back there if the Sudanese do not straighten this out.

December 2nd, 2007 at 3:52 am