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Facebookers respond to 'Draw Mohammed Day'
Thousands of users posted illustrations of Muslim prophet Mohammed to the web Thursday, responding to a controversial Facebook group that prompted Pakistan to block access to the social-networking site.
Everybody Draw Mohammed Day encourages people to flout the belief by devout Muslims that it is wrong to depict religious figures because it could lead to idol worship. The group has more than 81,000 fans on Facebook.
Creators of the group say they got the idea after recent controversies surrounding the belief. A series of cartoons of Mohammed published in a Danish newspaper in 2005 led to riots in countries around the world.
At least two European cartoonists live under police protection after drawing Mohammed and, most recently, Comedy Central edited part of the animated show "South Park" because it showed the prophet.
By mid-morning on Thursday, more than 7,300 images had been uploaded to the Facebook page, most of them drawings of Mohammed.
Some are silly. But a quick scan showed many that are crude, and some seemed to be intentionally offensive.
The creators of the page said that's not what they're after - that their message is about free speech, not attacking Islam.
"Enjoy the rest of the day and draw Mohammed however you may like," said a Thursday morning post. "We will of course encourage you to make a creative and humourous picture, instead of something hateful."
Predictably, the group has created backlash. Another Facebook group, called "AGAINST Everybody Draw Mohammed Day," actually had more members - about 96,000, as of Monday morning.
Recent posts on that page called on members to "keep protesting against those filthy pages" and report the Draw Mohammed page to Facebook as being objectionable.
But a Facebook spokesman said the page does not violate any of the site's terms. A glitch prevented some users from accessing the page briefly Monday morning, but he said that was technical and has been fixed.
"We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others," he said Thursday.
Read the rest here.
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My question is simple: does anything CHANGE because we did this? How many people woke up to realize that getting upset about cartoons is immature foolishness? Will a fanatic listen or even change his mind? Personally, I'm dubious ... and yeah, my bit was and is up there for all to see.
Everybody Draw Mohammed Day encourages people to flout the belief by devout Muslims that it is wrong to depict religious figures because it could lead to idol worship. The group has more than 81,000 fans on Facebook.
Creators of the group say they got the idea after recent controversies surrounding the belief. A series of cartoons of Mohammed published in a Danish newspaper in 2005 led to riots in countries around the world.
At least two European cartoonists live under police protection after drawing Mohammed and, most recently, Comedy Central edited part of the animated show "South Park" because it showed the prophet.
By mid-morning on Thursday, more than 7,300 images had been uploaded to the Facebook page, most of them drawings of Mohammed.
Some are silly. But a quick scan showed many that are crude, and some seemed to be intentionally offensive.
The creators of the page said that's not what they're after - that their message is about free speech, not attacking Islam.
"Enjoy the rest of the day and draw Mohammed however you may like," said a Thursday morning post. "We will of course encourage you to make a creative and humourous picture, instead of something hateful."
Predictably, the group has created backlash. Another Facebook group, called "AGAINST Everybody Draw Mohammed Day," actually had more members - about 96,000, as of Monday morning.
Recent posts on that page called on members to "keep protesting against those filthy pages" and report the Draw Mohammed page to Facebook as being objectionable.
But a Facebook spokesman said the page does not violate any of the site's terms. A glitch prevented some users from accessing the page briefly Monday morning, but he said that was technical and has been fixed.
"We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others," he said Thursday.
Read the rest here.
-----------------------------
My question is simple: does anything CHANGE because we did this? How many people woke up to realize that getting upset about cartoons is immature foolishness? Will a fanatic listen or even change his mind? Personally, I'm dubious ... and yeah, my bit was and is up there for all to see.
Tags: Draw Mohammed Day, Facebook, Mohammed, protest
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on -
Who said you're not welcome. Being debated with it not the same as being told to hit the road.
The fundamentalists are not always recent immigrants. Often they are second or third generation who either never assimilated or who adapted a fundamentalist ideology, and there have also been quite a few in the US who were recent converts and previously had no relation to Islam.
People are conditioned by their society but there have still been people who grew up in an Islamic society and saw through it with little to no exposure from freethinkers. If people were innocent of their fundamentalism b/c they were brainwashed, then absolutely everyone would be innocent.
So you're saying the cartoonists are responsible for people who were killed b/c some Muslims reacted to the cartoons by killing people? People can't control or predict other people's reactions to what they do, and are not responsible for the behaviors that someone else chooses. -
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Permalink Reply by scott martins on -
I'm sure you've all the heard the saying that for evil to win it only takes good men to do nothing. Well this might not have been a revolution but it is a start. Drawing Mohammed Day showed to Islam that we will not be cowed by their threats. We are showing our support not only for our free speech rights but for the cartoonists who have to live every day looking over their shoulders because a scimitar might be trying to decapitate them. Islam has scared the crap out of the world for quite a long time by making threats and following through. I say bring it on. I'm not scared of the extremists. Maybe if we stand up collectively and say we will not tolerate violent threats or behavior then maybe they will back down. However unlikely it is that they react that way, we still have to try. Because good people have to do something or evil will win.
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Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on -
Thanks for reminding me of that quote (Edmund Burke - one smart SOB!). It says a LOT regarding the whole business of being active in facing down evil rather than playing Neville Chamberlain.
I don't LIKE being confrontational. It takes energy and sometimes anger and the results may not be what you want ... but I will NOT be treated like a doormat as it comes to the issue of my rights! -
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Permalink Reply by Dejah Thoris on -
My favorite Edmund Burke quote is also relevant, "No one ever made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little".
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Permalink Reply by Dejah Thoris on
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I agree. Doing nothing is worse than an imperfect response (if that is what the Facebook response was--I'm not sure).
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Permalink Reply by Dejah Thoris on
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I think at the very least, some awareness was raised about the irrationality and hate mongering of Muslims. (Not that they have a monopoly on this behavior). However, I agree with Orange that most of the Facebook response was a "blind stampede". I don't think that intentionally offensive drawings of Mohammed are going to accomplish anything positive. Of course, one could argue that drawing any picture of Mohammed is being intentionally offensive to Muslims. The difference is that a simple drawing of Mohammed is a way of showing that images of the prophet are harmless and not something to get militant about—while an obnoxious drawing of Mohammed is an attack on the prophet and his followers, therefore no better than the behavior that is being protested.
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Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on
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while an obnoxious drawing of Mohammed is an attack on the prophet and his followers, therefore no better than the behavior that is being protested.
Threatening with people and rioting and killing is "no better" than hurting people's feelings with a deliberately offensive picture?
The deliberately as offensive as possible pics weren't my favorite (like: Mohammed as a pile of dogshit) though. I liked seeing the different people they made into Mohammed and the ones that were actually clever. I think the deliberately offensive people are a result of the censorship and placation that's been done for Islam, though. -
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Permalink Reply by Dejah Thoris on
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Okay, I didn't get my meaning across very well. Threating, rioting and killing are much worse than drawing deliberately offensive pictures. When it comes down to it those kinds of pictures are better than doing nothing to protest the Muslim's behavior.
I spoke from my first instinct, which is to never attack a person or group of people, but rather to attack their thinking or actions that I believe to be wrong. I can understand, though, how people personally effected by the Muslims' behavior would want to express themselves with such pictures. -
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Permalink Reply by scott martins on
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The difference is that the drawings are a peaceful protest supporting the beliefs or anger of the illustrator. The threat of violence that comes from the muslim world is the exact opposite. Atheists do not threaten death when we are mocked. My question is why are these muslims that live in democratic countries, that can arrest somebody for threatening to kill someone, not being arrested and thrown in jail? If I threatened to kill a mormon knocking on my door, I would be thrown in jail. Why do these blatant threats go unpunished?
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Permalink Reply by Dejah Thoris on
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Again, you are right. The Facebook drawings are more than just a way to raise awareness, as I put it earlier. They are a peaceful protest.
"My question is why are these muslims that live in democratic countries, that can arrest somebody for threatening to kill someone, not being arrested and thrown in jail?"
Could it be lack of evidence? Or something more sinister? I don't know enough about it to venture an opinion. -
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Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on
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The threat on revolutionmuslim.com was supposedly about one hair away from an actual threat b/c it said "this is probably what will happen". (Yeah...what will probably happen as a result of the person saying so!) I agree it is a threat and people have been jailed for less.
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Permalink Reply by moJoe on -
When one person draws Muhammad, they can threaten him, or kill him.
When thousands of people draw Muhammad, they can't do shit.
Publishers need to see and understand that if they publish one book or song or piece of art critical of Muhammad, they might be attacked, but if they all band together and publish several, nothing is likely to happen. Freedom of speech should be the status quo, not fear of reprisal. -
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