Denmarks, Jyllands-Posten Daily Newspaper is blamed for publishing the cartoons of Mohammed not the Danish Government , why is every one avoiding the truth, 128 Newspapers around the world published the cartoons, The major shareholders/owners of those newspapers, all belonged to the same God Club, so you would have to say the cartoons were a deliberate act , hatred of Muslims is what drives their mindsets. they will do anything and everything to keep stiring the hatred, I find it hard to believe there is any freedom of the press, because we all seem to be afraid to call a spsde a spade,all the information you need can be found in 'Wikipedia"
Free speech, or hate propaganda, there has to be a line drawn, if free speech/propaganda destroys freedom , how can you say the press is free , when newspapers have to accommodate, religious and political fanatics,

Father David Smith is correct when he points out that there is no absolute right of freedom of expression in any western country. Therefore it is a valid point to consider at what point we draw the line.

In western societies, the notion that art, literature and filmatic creativity should not unduly suffer from the heavy hand of censorship is a noble one. By giving creative people the freedom to explore social issues, our societies have evolved by critically examining the basis for long accepted values, as the changing times alters the basic premises upon which our contemporary values and attitudes were built.

Father Smith apparently feels that we in the West should display more espect for Muslim culture by not insulting their religion. If I had any respect for the Islamic religion, I might have agreed with him. Personally, I was affronted by Piss Christ and I am not even a Christian. I did not consider Piss Christ a work of art, just a pointed insult. Yet I laughed my head of at "The Life of Brian" and I knew devoted Catholics who never missed a Dave Allen show. The ability to laugh at your own beliefs and other people's beliefs is a healthy one. It displays a persons ability to understand irony, a significant marker for intelligence.

But in my opinion, the Muslim religion is desperately in need of criticism and some serious lampooning. The Muslim faith is not merely a religion, it is entire cultural system which includes dietary, political, legal and social beliefs. That any such wide ranging cultural system should be considered above any criticism or parody is an idea that can only be considered extraordinary and totally repugnent to western intellectual thought.

Father Smith may have a point when he states that the West can hardly lecture Islam when our children are getting into so much trouble. But at least our kids are enjoying themselves and having fun. They are not worshiping a death cult which encourages young people to become suicidal mass murderers for a God.

Yep,we are seeing it already; ie other religions riding on the back of Muslim Facism.Religions aspire to absolute truths that can subjugate the masses and we all know in our real world that there is no such reality.Religion has nothing to do with being close to their perceived creator,it is about the power of those at the apex.

If you want to be really religious,have faith in yourself and have the courage of your convictions.

Just today I've heard an hilarious development,apparently many Muslim women are beginning to divorce their men folk,and guess what?Under our laws they are taking their arrogant husbands to the cleaners.Imagine if you only had two wives with children and normally one wife gets 80% of the assets.That means two wives get 160% of your assets.Muslim men would have to rely on reincarnation to pay off their debts.Perhaps they should all become Hindus and pay homage to the humble cow.

No wonder Muslim men want Shariah Law introduced into Australia,their wives now have the real power to destroy the reality of their sexual nervana and any illusions of 72 virgins in the here after.

Poor Father Dave, those nasty university lecturers upset him talking about homosexuals and other unpleasant things not fit for public discussion, but they drew the line at making jokes about pedophilia! How unreasonable! Could it be because pedophilia hurts children and is therefore wrong, whereas other sexual practices (even ones the church might disapprove of) are people's own personal choice and not wrong, even if Father Dave thinks they are.

Bottom line, free speech is fundamental, and freedom to criticise faith based belief systems is particularly crucial. For want of a better word, a society that allows this criticism is more "advanced", Father. After all, the question has to be asked, why are religions so afraid of comment, criticism and humour?

David Smith – a fool, a knave and if not an outright liar, then your poorly researched subject has to be placed in the same category as Norma Khouri's “Forbidden Love” and of course Helen Demidenko’s little discourse - but why let truth get in the way of a good story?

I suppose you are so busy peddling your meaningless pap from one of your alternative pulpits, that you would not have found the time to do some real and relevant research into the cartoons in the first instance – I could do that for you – but why feed a slothful, vacuous mind?

Why has no one here gone to the origins of these bloody cartoons in the first instance? All the stupid Moslems and equally moronic god botherers have honed in on the actual publication of them instead of the reason behind them in Jyllands Posten – a few have actually come out with the fact that an Egyptian paper actually published them six months previously – WITH NO OUTRAGE – fancy that?

It was not until a delegation of Danish Muslims, led by Machiavellian Copenhagen imam, Abu Laban fabricating further cartoons not appearing in Jyllands Posten, with the intent purpose of fermenting sectarian violence in the Muslim sector of the middle East.

The CT Blog revealed how a delegation of Danish Muslims, led by Copenhagen imam Abu Laban, toured the Middle East in December and showed fabricated cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in a very offensive fashion, even though the pictures had never appeared on Jyllands Posten. He lied on Danish Television condemning the boycott then went on al Jazeera commenting gleefully (in Arabic) on the effectiveness of the boycotts.

Lies? Postulation on my part? – Check for yourselves on this acquired and translated lie-filled pamphlet spread by the Danish imams http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/files/danish_letter.pdf. (.pdf file) and for the other false photo of Mohammed as a pig - http://www.neandernews.com/?p=54

As for the so called fatwahs maybe this cartoon would suit Salam Zreika – or maybe she really does not want to be all that equal? http://www.coxandforkum.com/archives/FromHomeToGrave-X.gif

“I am not convinced that eradication of all censorship is a sign of a progressive society.”

So how much censorship is acceptable Dave?

Who should decide what is to be censored and is not? – you or me?

I am OK if it is me, I know and trust my judgement but I do not know you and do not, therefore, trust your judgement to censor fairly.

“They stopped short on discussing pedophilia in such detail - thanks be to God.”

Dave must do his discussing in more genteel circles than I.

The ladies of the Church auxilary must have nicer topics to talk over, knitting patterns maybe.

“We just draw the boundaries at different points.”

Yes we all apply “subjective judgement” differently. Hence, setting any standard for censorship is going to result in different “subjective judgements” being made, depending on the priggishness of the censor.

At this point I would like to state, for the record, my personal mistrust of all institutions of a religious nature based on their proven record of abuse of trust and suggest anyone who thinks a religious background, even that of a parish priest, is reasonable qualification for anything is a fool.

“We in the West are at a different point culturally. We have become hardened to religious humour that targets our cherished beliefs.”

- And Islamists need to grow up too.

Supporting the views and sentiments of savage pencil (nice name), leigh and others from the enlightened side.

As Arjay so rightly points out “Religion has nothing to do with being close to their perceived creator,it is about the power of those at the apex.”

That dangerous quest for "power" applies to the proponents of Christian as well as Islamic “religion”.