Face book blocks access in India to controversial page

[Vande Mataram]

This is how Muslims should protest
By MICHAEL PECK

No bombs. No murders. No screaming fanatics shouting “Allah Akbar” as they attempt to remove someone’s head for daring to draw the Prophet Muhammed.

When the Atheists, Humanists and Agnostics association at the University of Wisconsin-Madison decided to defend the right of free speech by drawing stick figures of the Prophet Muhammed on campus sidewalks, the campus Muslim Students Association quickly responded. They followed the atheists on their blasphemous journey, and whenever a drawing of the Prophet Muhammed appeared, the Muslim students drew boxing gloves on the figure, and changed the name to Muhammed Ali.

That’s it. No fights. No hatred. Now the atheists are sparring with the college administration over the right to draw Muhammed, but that’s a different matter. Confronted with satire, the Muslim students responded with humor (yes, you could say they desecrated the atheists’ grafitti, but grafitti artists are in no position to complain). Some of their co-religionists will denounce them for not being more zealous (as in violent) in defending their faith. But I think the students gained more respect for Islam by using chalk rather than guns.

Make cartoons, not war.

 

[Speaker]

Maybe. Maybe not. The point is that it is not ours or anybody's decision to make how people use their freedom of expression. That is the very meaning of the word freedom, you would probably agree.

The reactions to these cartoons show so many of the pathologies (like false grievances etc.) of dogmatic, literalistic faith, that for some moderate believers (who are supposedly in a vast majority) it might be a tipping point towards self-reflection and a more reasonable approach to religion.
It is one way at seeing why "causing offense" (on many matters, especially to powerful institutions such as religion, government etc.) is important for social progress and ethical betterment. You know Martin Luther caused incredible offense too..
Call it far-fetched, but there are many layers to this whole affair in my opinion.

Well I still think some of the cartoons were made from spite and were not humorous. I can concede that sense of humor is a subjective thing, but still need convincing that any of those 'cartoons' were humorous.

The less conservative/agnostic Muslims might have wanted to participate in something that was at least remotely funny, but some of the comments on that page left them with no chance to participate.

Again, I am not taking away their right to express themselves. I chose to close to page and move on, and I think others can do that as well. But I am still within my rights to express my displeasure at their actions.