# "Everybody draw Mohammed" on May 20 to support South Park **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 25, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307 "2010-04-25T16:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/281 "2010-04-27T14:00:24Z")
> [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > That part of the argument seems to be pretty much concluded; no, it’s not acceptable. So, how do _ **you** _ propose to get Muslims to stop being assholes? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/282 "2010-04-27T14:06:28Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > So, how do _ **you** _ propose to get Muslims to stop being assholes? Nuke em from orbit. Its the only way to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/283 "2010-04-27T14:08:03Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > So, how do _ **you** _ propose to get Muslims to stop being assholes? Honestly, i’m not sure. I can see what I think are very bad ways of going about it. But I couldn’t point to a single best way. Generally my rule of thumb in situations where you want to convert someone to a way of thinking which you consider better is simply to live with that way of thinking. If it’s as better as you believe it to be, then it itself should be a pretty good advertisement, rather than going out of your way to be offensive. But of course that hugely depends on circumstances. Really, I would say that doing nothing at all would probably be better for the cause than the idea in **Valteron’s** OP. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/284 "2010-04-27T14:15:51Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Why do you keep adding this, unnecessarily, to your posts? Are you upset that you can’t have pictures of naked children? No, just pointing out that people are really angry about one form of censorship, but perfectly fine with another form. In both cases we’re preventing from depicting an imagine someone else finds offensive through threat of force (jail time). My hope is that people participating this is protest would pause and say, “but I find those pictures objectionable and I don’t want you drawing them, children are sacred, oh, wait, I see what’s going on here.” > [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > So, what’s _ **your** _ proposal for working with their hypersensitivity to help them get over it? I don’t really have a proposal, which is why I didn’t start a little grass roots campaign to have a giant arts and crafts festival. But since you asked, I think it needs to be a lot less overt than a bunch of pictures of Mohammad. Like I said, that’s the 8 year old answer. Maybe something like everyone draw a censored picture of Mohammad, essentially what South Park did: have all the religious figures but block out Mohammad. Or something really radical, take their stupid idea further: May 20th is a day we can’t show any pictures! All pictures are blasphemous. It’s the Lethal Weapon approach, out crazy the crazies. Another tract would be to consider your target audience of otherwise good natured Muslims who already think terrorists are assholes, and are currently indifferent towards ya’ll. You need a way to get them on your side, while poking fun at them, us, and the terrorists. Remember that if you insult them you lose them to the terrorists. I haven’t come up with a good one for this, but that’s because my formal training is in competitive jazz dance. Here is one: as a general custom, basically all Muslim boys are named Muhammad or some variation of that (Ahmed, Hamid) It is the most common name in the world, have some fun with that. [This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhTqzZpz6RY&feature=related) is a song about Daves. You could make up your own version about Muhammad. Find a similarity between two issues and exploit that (drawing Muhammed is bad, naming your kid Muhammed is good, even if the kid turns out to be an asshole). Along those similar lines, find and imagine that _they_ LOVE to draw then pretend to be outraged by it. Act in a silly manner towards something they don’t really care about, and hope that they’ll draw a parallel with how silly they’re acting. This is just shit I came up with in the lats 15min or so. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/285 "2010-04-27T14:31:40Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > No, just pointing out that people are really angry about one form of censorship, but perfectly fine with another form. So in other words, you have no argument except excluding the middle. Your argument fails if we compare the reasons for one ban (don’t draw Muhammad because we don’t like it) to another (you can’t possess child porn because children are harmed in the making of the porn). > [@](#): > > In both cases we’re preventing from depicting an imagine someone else finds offensive through threat of force (jail time). Show me a law that says people are not allowed to draw pictures of naked children. Once you’ve got the statue I’ll be directing the police to all the major local museums to haul off some ancient Greek status. > [@](#): > > Or something really radical, take their stupid idea further: May 20th is a day we can’t show any pictures! All pictures are blasphemous. You’re really making an ass of yourself. I explained this upthread, but I’ll say it again: some Muslims interpret the “no graven images” command to mean ‘do not depict any living thing.’ So they won’t consider it lunacy or satire, they’ll consider it appropriate. Weren’t you the one putting yourself up as an expert on all things Islamic and educating all these boorish American imperialist jerks? ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/286 "2010-04-27T14:45:16Z")
Ha, I completely forgot how fun it is to use the title bar. I really don’t have time to take apart all of your arguments, I’m an extremely busy person. > [@Marley23](#): > > So in other words, you have no argument except excluding the middle. Your argument fails if we compare the reasons for one ban (don’t draw Muhammad because we don’t like it) to another (you can’t possess child porn because children are harmed in the making of the porn). The “middle” doesn’t get anyone’s attention, as this protest shows. The lesson here is skip the middle and go right to the crazy extreme. There was a great South Park episode ones about the city flag, Chef thought it was racist and wanted it changed. Jimbo thought it represented his heritage and wanted to keep it. While trying to defend his flag, the KKK showed up to also defend the flag. Suddenly Jimbo found that he was on the side of racists. He wanted his flag, but he didn’t want to a racist. > [@Marley23](#): > > Show me a law that says people are not allowed to draw pictures of naked children. Once you’ve got the statue I’ll be directing the police to all the major local museums to haul off some ancient Greek status. Canada is currently (or was a few years ago) dealing with this very issue. A guy out in BC was arrested for possession of drawings, essentially art work, of sexualized children. When last I heard it was working it’s way up through the Supreme Court, but then I lost interest. > [@Marley23](#): > > You’re really making an ass of yourself. I explained this upthread, but I’ll say it again: some Muslims interpret the “no graven images” command to mean ‘do not depict any living thing.’ So they won’t consider it lunacy or satire, they’ll consider it appropriate. Weren’t you the one putting yourself up as an expert on all things Islamic and educating all these boorish American imperialist jerks? So we’ve concluded that making an ass of yourself isn’t a great way to win hearts and minds? That taking things to extremes doesn’t always make sense? ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/287 "2010-04-27T14:51:30Z")
Islam is not a race. Islam is a belief system. Anyone who tells me to refrain from questioning or mocking said belief system as I see fit can go fuck themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/288 "2010-04-27T14:51:41Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > I really don’t have time to take apart all of your arguments, I’m an extremely busy person. You don’t have the ability either, but don’t let that stop you. We’re only on page six! > [@](#): > > The “middle” doesn’t get anyone’s attention, as this protest shows. Shouldn’t I be the one making that argument? I said a couple of pages ago that sometimes being an asshole was justified for the right cause. It’s not my preferred mode of communication but sometimes you do need to raise your voice to get your point across. I’m not sure how this helps your argument, though. > [@](#): > > There was a great South Park episode I don’t believe you. (Okay, I’m kidding. The Scientology thing was funny even if they’ve always been low hanging fruit.) 😉 > [@](#): > > Canada is currently (or was a few years ago) dealing with this very issue. A guy out in BC was arrested for possession of drawings, essentially art work, of sexualized children. Probably a bunch of nations are dealing with it. Last I knew, the Supreme Court here found that simulated child porn is protected speech. And I notice you stopped using the word “naked” and are now saying “sexualized.” They mean very different things. > [@](#): > > So we’ve concluded that making an ass of yourself isn’t a great way to win hearts and minds? No, we’ve concluded that even though you’re doing an impression of the world’s shrillest cultural tolerance advocate, you actually don’t know very much about Islam. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/289 "2010-04-27T15:29:09Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > No, just pointing out that people are really angry about one form of censorship, but perfectly fine with another form. In both cases we’re preventing from depicting an imagine someone else finds offensive through threat of force (jail time). > > My hope is that people participating this is protest would pause and say, “but I find those pictures objectionable and I don’t want you drawing them, children are sacred, oh, wait, I see what’s going on here.” That you can’t legally depict nude children is certainly going to come as quite the revelation to, for example, Sally Mann. (OK, they’re photos of naked children rather than drawings, but I have trouble imagining that a law covering the one media would ignore the other.) > **[Sally Mann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Mann)** > > Sally Mann (born Sally Turner Munger; May 1, 1951) is an American photographer known for making large format black and white photographs of people and places in her immediate surroundings: her children, husband, and rural landscapes, as well as self-portraits. > Born in Lexington, Virginia, Mann was the third of three children. Her father, Robert S. Munger, was a general practitioner, and her mother, Elizabeth Evans Munger, ran the bookstore at Washington and Lee University in Lexington. Mann wa... (Scroll down to “Early Career” and the discussion of her collection “Immediate Family” in particular.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/290 "2010-04-27T15:43:33Z")
I really don’t see much here to get all upset about. This is essentially self censorship which occurs for many reasons and in this case the reason appears to be self preservation at the hands of third parties . By that I mean the instigation was simply a warning which the network took seriously. That retribution for the prophet’s insulting depiction is seriously subject to fatalities is a fact of life that we are powerless to make go away. The warning may have saved lives. Live with it. Protect yourself. Its a fact of life for most teenagers that if you insult the leader of a gang that you will at a minimum get the shit kicked out of you. So what do you do? Just don’t insult him. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/291 "2010-04-27T16:48:57Z")
On reflection (and on googling more about RevolutionMuslim), I’ve changed my mind. It probably was a credible threat. I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/292 "2010-04-27T17:04:13Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Its a fact of life for most teenagers that if you insult the leader of a gang that you will at a minimum get the shit kicked out of you. So what do you do? > > Just don’t insult him. And then when he tells you that your women have to hide their faces, you just have them hide their faces. And then when he tells you they can’t leave their houses without a male relative, you just have them stay home unless they’re accompanied by a male relative. And then when he tells you that women can’t be in the same swimming pools as men, you just build his and her swimming pools. And then when he tells you that rape victims should receive 90 lashes for getting raped, you just write the necessary legislation to make it law. And then when he tells you that you have to bow to the east and pray five times a day, you just bow and pray. And then… Well, you get the picture (hopefully). And besides, how much power does a gang leader or bully really have if the whole neighborhood unites against him? None, that’s how much. And that’s what the May 20 drawings are about - the neighborhood uniting against the bully. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/293 "2010-04-27T17:04:36Z")
I’m drawing Mo. 🙂 \<- Mohammed ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/294 "2010-04-27T17:58:09Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > Here is one: as a general custom, basically all Muslim boys are named Muhammad or some variation of that (Ahmed, Hamid) It is the most common name in the world, have some fun with that. I find it a little ironic that every other Muslim boy is named “Muhammed” while images of Muhammed are extemely taboo, and yet while images of Jesus are everywhere, it’s generally not done (in the English-speaking Christian world, anyway) to name your kid “Jesus”. Hell, there’s a picture of Muhammed in my high school yearbook. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/295 "2010-04-27T17:58:42Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > I’m drawing Mo. > > 🙂 \<- Mohammed Too bad we don’t have that Happy Jewish Guy smiley anymore. ---
**Author:** ![VoluntaryPlan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9fc29f/32.png) [@VoluntaryPlan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VoluntaryPlan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/296 "2010-04-27T18:26:05Z")
It’s pretty impressive how the South Park guys got exactly what they wanted out of this and still got to whip up the easily-whipped up. ---
**Author:** ![VoluntaryPlan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9fc29f/32.png) [@VoluntaryPlan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VoluntaryPlan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/297 "2010-04-27T18:27:26Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > And then when he tells you that your women have to hide their faces, you just have them hide their faces. > > And then when he tells you they can’t leave their houses without a male relative, you just have them stay home unless they’re accompanied by a male relative. > > And then when he tells you that women can’t be in the same swimming pools as men, you just build his and her swimming pools. > > And then when he tells you that rape victims should receive 90 lashes for getting raped, you just write the necessary legislation to make it law. > > And then when he tells you that you have to bow to the east and pray five times a day, you just bow and pray. > > And then… > > Well, you get the picture (hopefully). > > And besides, how much power does a gang leader or bully really have if the whole neighborhood unites against him? None, that’s how much. And that’s what the May 20 drawings are about - the neighborhood uniting against the bully. It seems more like the neighborhood smashing the windows of the boys & girls club because the bully likes to hang outside there sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/298 "2010-04-27T18:33:14Z")
Look, we are going to have to prove that the pen and the photoshop are mightier than the sword and the bomb at some point or another, so I see nothing wrong with reminding them how many people they are dealing with. I don’t think we should take the piss out of Mohammed tho’ as he isn’t around to stand up for himself, which makes him a bit of an easy target. Let’s just take the piss out of all terrorists who attack civilians and think they are doing something noble. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/299 "2010-04-27T18:35:24Z")
Well, we’re already taking the piss out of [depictions of naked children](http://www.armchairtraveller.ca/Photo%20Tour/Brussels/Manneken%20Pis.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307/300 "2010-04-27T18:57:22Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Well, we’re already taking the piss out of [depictions of naked children](http://www.armchairtraveller.ca/Photo%20Tour/Brussels/Manneken%20Pis.jpg). It’s not the nudity that upsets me, but the curved rod up his ass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-draw-mohammed-on-may-20-to-support-south-park/537307.md?page=16)