If Muslims didn't consider themselves to be the the ultimate philosophy or belief system that should be inflicted on the the rest of the world,then perhaps the rest of us tolerate beings would stop making jokes about the rise of this new facism.

The unspoken innuendo is,"Don't upset the Muslims or they will become violent,or even worse stop trading with us."

Wouldn't the fundamentalists Christian Churches like to ride on the back of this Muslim oppression of free speech.They could ban books like The Davinci Code.

Our Govts would like it even better,since they would be no longer answerable to the electorate.

The Gay community satorise nuns in sexual deprivation,yet the Muslims who consider Jesus to be a Prophet are silent on many things that deride the Christian religion.It is also alright to blow up Buddist Statues in Afghanistan. No outrage

Observe the next Mardi Gra,there will be no Muslim Women in the Hijab with any sexual conotations because the Gay community are just too damn scared of the ramifications.The violence perpetrated by some in their community is condemned only by their weak kneeded silence.Well,silence in my book demonstrates approval.

Well what does that tell us of censorship and the Muslim oppression that is real in our midst,saping the life blood of our once treasured freedoms.

It is time for Salam Zreika and all Australians to stand up for the real meaning of rights and freedom of speech.The ability to laugh at yourself shows true humility and willingness to learn,since no one has the monopoly on wisdom in this dynamic,evolving universe.

If we let one religion or belief system to have special rights,then under our laws others will have the same rights and very soon it will be illegal to critise our own elected Govts.

Salam, I’ve read your article and given it every consideration. Don't you see the irony, you having the freedom to write an article telling us where our freedoms should be limited? Freedoms our people have suffered extraordinarily to obtain and maintain. We are not going to give it up that easily.
IMO, organized religion is a primitive and stupid way of looking at the world. However, if people want to believe, let them. Frankly, I don’t give a damn, if they can’t think for themselves, and need it as a comforter. This applies to all religions, as long as they are tolerant and don’t try to impose their views on the rest of us.
This is precisely where Islam is totally wrong.
Free speech is absolutely that, FREE. This means that no one can tell you what to think, or what to say, or what to write. The only limitation is death threats to someone else, because threatening to kill is illegal.
So what, if you get offended? Just respond in the same way.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been insulted and offended in my lifetime. I don’t turn into a raving murderer over it.
“What reaction do you think Christians or Sikhs or Buddhists would have if an image published was a severe mocking of their central belief?”
Well, guess what, Salam? It happens all the time. Do you see them beheading children, blowing up trains, etc?
Fortunately, we in the West have progressed from these primitive ways of thinking.
Islam will continue to lose credibility with every beheading, every torching, every death threat, every murder, every blowing up of transport systems done in its name. Surely you can understand our scepticism about Islam, given the events of the past few years?
Islamists who can’t stand a little well-founded criticism should get out of the West. They should not live in a free, Western advanced society.

Continued
Salam, you have had the benefit of a western education. Yet you spit in our eye, by trying to deny us what we have fought for over the centuries. The very freedom you are enjoying has been paid for by our people’s blood.
OK, you have the right to say what you like, and that is the essence of it. Try to oppose the “religious police” in Saudi Arabia, or in the past under the Taliban in Afghanistan and see how far you would be tolerated.
Some leaders and newspapers of western countries have apologised to Muslims.
I don’t agree with them, kowtowing to Islam just for the sake of a bit of peace and quiet. Which hasn’t worked, by the way.
All this misses the point by miles.
You Muslims are far too sensitive about your beliefs. As are Christian or any other kind of fundamentalist.
The issue is, do we in the West have the right to criticise, make jokes and draw cartoons about Islam? Do we have the right to do the same to Judaism and Christianity and all the other religions? What about Communism? What about Neo-cons? Liberals, Labourites, Greenies, PC Lefties, you name it.
And I say, YES we do.
We have the right, and indeed the duty, to scrutinise every religion or other belief system, whether political or religious. Without that, they can get too self-important, we can so easily be subject to totalitarianism, and lose our ability to function as free people.
So even your mild rebuke is an attempt to strike at the very heart of freedom. Nevertheless, we tolerate you. We don’t issue you with a death threat. All we do is tell you where you are wrong, and we leave it up to the intelligence of the onlookers to decide who is right.

I mentioned a number of Muslim leaders from Denmark who went to the middle east to stir up trouble.

I also mentioned that there are reports of EXTRA unpublished cartoons which they showed to the Arabs.. which explains the lack of outrage since September till now.

The 2 cartoons I saw are as follows: (publicised by the Danish Muslims leaders themselves in the Middle East)

1/ Mohammed dressed as a PIG... pig ears.... pig nose...

2/ Mohammed in prayer being 'mounted' from behind by a dog !

http://www.michellemalkin.com/

scroll down till you see the small and rather blurred toons.. note that they were fabricated by Muslims themselves.

If this is true, then it explains the degree of outrage.
and..the timing of it.

At least, that is the story :)

So western freedom means having the power and ability to decide when the east is - or is not - practicing western freedom?

The ignorance and misundestanding of recent world history within comment here is astounding.

Someones gotta give it a name. Pulp friction?

Rainier wrote:

So western freedom means having the power and ability to decide when the east is - or is not - practicing western freedom?

The ignorance and misundestanding of recent world history within comment here is astounding.

---

Or to put in in the reverse, the east should be able to decide what freedoms the west should be able to practise?

If you don't like occidental freedoms, why do you chose to live here? Or is it that the prosperity of the west is attractive?

The prosperity of the west comes from its freedoms - which is why the west fought war against fascism, and later a 'cold war' against its political / economic / doctrinal mirror, communism, the same communism that supported the ME Arabic countries in their war against the 'western' Israel (not that I hold any brief for Israel, as I tend to believe that Israel is the west making the Palestinians pay for the western guilt of the shoah).

It should also be noted that in WW2 Islam sided with 'National Socialism': Islamic troops fought on the Nazi side in Yugoslavia and the Eastern Front, and the mufti of Jerusalem lived in Berlin for most of the war. Whilst the Germans were massacring Jews, they were using Moslems as mercenaries.

When in the 20th century have Islamic forces sided with freedom, liberation and democracy? I await an answer

So why do you chose to live in a liberal democratic country? The only answer is that you hope to subvert it from within, (or you have been drawn to its non-Islamic prosperity): which includes pretending to be an adherent to western values by expressing views that may appear to be concurrent with them, but are actually at odds with them.

Show your true - Islamic green - colours and stop wrapping yourself in a liberal democratic flag.