# Muslim riots over cartoons--is political correctness going overboard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 3, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887 "2006-02-03T19:52:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/61 "2006-02-03T23:24:26Z")
If I had a newspaper, I would publish it. If this is causing such a furor, I would want my readers to see what the fuss was about number one. And number two to show that threats will not determine policy. For the record I would also publish it if it was Jesus with a bomb on his head, or Jesus standing at the gates telling dead American soldiers they are not welcome as murderers of innocents. This to me is not an issue of freedom of speech/expression it is issue of a group of Muslims using threats and acts of violence to force non Muslim nations to follow a part of the Sharia. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/62 "2006-02-03T23:25:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Ah, I thought you were talking about Dopers. Hehehe. I wouldn’t know where to start. 🙂 Some more: In the heyday of their multicultural utopia, the Dutch political and intellectual elites believed that radical Muslims and radical libertarians could exist peacefully together in the same society. In recent years it has become clear that such a belief was an illusion, although the politically correct media long tried to avoid the whole subject. Mr. Fortuyn, in his outspoken political career, broke the taboos surrounding the problems of immigration and paid with his life. Mr. Van Gogh paid the same price for a provocation that, had it been directed at Christianity rather than Islam, would have hardly raised an eyebrow. > **[Opinion & Reviews - Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/news/opinion)** > > Get The Wall Street Journal’s Opinion columnists, editorials, op-eds, letters to the editor, and book and arts reviews. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/63 "2006-02-03T23:31:00Z")
From the Associated Press: > [@](#): > > While recognizing the importance of freedom of the press and expression, U.S. State Department press officer Janelle Hironimus said these rights must be coupled with press responsibility. > > “Inciting religious or ethnic hatred in this manner is not acceptable,” Hironimus said. “We call for tolerance and respect for all communities and for their religious beliefs and practices.” Brilliant. It would appear she’s accusing the paper of enciting religious hatred while the people who are doing the religious hating escape comment. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/64 "2006-02-03T23:33:17Z")
Yep. Happens all the time. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/65 "2006-02-03T23:35:50Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Who’s freedom of expression is being abridged? The editors and the cartoonists who just went into hiding. Anyone and everyone who might want to satire Islam or make any sort of pointed criticism of it. This is about freedom of expression more than it is about the ‘rights’ of certain fanatical moslems. ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/66 "2006-02-03T23:39:58Z")
I find it annoying that CNN and other media won’t just show is the derned things, so we can see what the fuss is about. But with a little patient googling, I was able to find a newspaper that puts informing the public at a higher premium than parenting the public. I expect now that newspaper will be stormed by Muslim extremists, who do a far better job of caricaturing the adherents to their faith than the Scandanavian cartoonist in question. The cartoons are actually pretty tame, bordering on lame, and are, like all editorial cartoons, completely humorless. [http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/698](http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/698) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/67 "2006-02-04T00:09:25Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Of course thos Muslims who riot or commit crimes are in the wrong, but the question in the OP was not whether people have the right to commit crimes if they’re offende by a cartoon (of course they’re not) but whether CNN was being “too politically correct” in declining to show the cartoon. Those are two different questions. Yes they were. CNN is showing a picture of the Danish flag being burned on the same article where they talk about being respectful to Islam. That is politically correct . Their motive is understandable though. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/02/03/cartoon.wrap.reut/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/02/03/cartoon.wrap.reut/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/68 "2006-02-04T00:27:15Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > This is a disingenuous point. There are far too many depictions of Jesus and God in western culture for Muslims to publicly protest every single one of them, and nothing you mentioned was a deliberate attack on Islam. Not at all. The Jerry Springer show generated a lot of furore here in the U.K. But there was nary a peep from the Moslems. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/69 "2006-02-04T01:41:00Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > What do legal rights have to do with anything? This is not about legal rights of Muslims, it’s about CNN’s right not show an offensive cartoon if they don’t want to. While personally, I think this is much ado about nothing. I don’t think CNN would have hesitated to show a cartoon that may have been offensive to believers of the Hindu, Christian, or Buddhist, religions. Do I think it should be run? Yes. Not as some sort of free speech protest, but to provide information so the public can see for themselves what all the excitement is about. After seeing the cartoons, I think the vast majority of the North American population will have the same reaction as I, ho-hum. If the media continues to not display the images because someone might be offended, I fear our culture is lost. This is not about the images themselves. After all, they were printed in September. IMHO, This is being driven by organizers with the explicit purpose of taking away free speech and a victory here will just embolden them for more and more claims of offense. While it may be ugly, to give in and censor your news for something that doesn’t amount to anymore than this, puts us on a very slippery slope and I don’t want any part of what’s at the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/70 "2006-02-04T03:34:28Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Not at all. The Jerry Springer show generated a lot of furore here in the U.K. But there was nary a peep from the Moslems. I have no idea what show you’re talking about. When did Jerry Springer have Jesus on his show? Why would Muslims give a fuck? Are you suggesting that if every Muslim in te world doesn’t protest every single Western depiction of Jesus then no Muslim anywhere has a right to be offended by a cartoon depicting Mohammed as a terrorist? What is your point, man? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/71 "2006-02-04T03:35:51Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Yes they were. CNN is showing a picture of the Danish flag being burned on the same article where they talk about being respectful to Islam. That is politically correct . Their motive is understandable though. > > [http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/02/03/cartoon.wrap.reut/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/02/03/cartoon.wrap.reut/index.html) What’s disrespectful about showing the Danish flag being burnt? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/72 "2006-02-04T03:40:18Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > I don’t think CNN would have hesitated to show a cartoon that may have been offensive to believers of the Hindu, Christian, or Buddhist, religions. I agree. See my comments earlier - granted, it’s not a different religion, but it’s the first comparable thing that I thought of. CNN did show an image of the stamp in question on their Web site, and maybe on the TV news as well. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/73 "2006-02-04T03:42:31Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > What’s disrespectful about showing the Danish flag being burnt? In America there are efforts to make it illegal to burn the American flag (you can still burn anyone else’s flag though). Why wouldn’t the Danish be any different? I’m sure some people there find it offensive when their flag is burnt. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/74 "2006-02-04T03:42:46Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > The editors and the cartoonists who just went into hiding. Anyone and everyone who might want to satire Islam or make any sort of pointed criticism of it. This is about freedom of expression more than it is about the ‘rights’ of certain fanatical moslems. I thought this thread was about CNN’s decision not to run the cartoon. Events in other countries are irrelevant to the question posed in the OP. Can we agree that nobody’s right to free speech has been suppressed in the US? “Satire” is a noun, not a verb. The preferred spelling is M **u** slim with a u. “Moslem” is still sometimes used but disliked by Muslims as it leads to mispronunciations. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/75 "2006-02-04T03:45:56Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > In America there are efforts to make it illegal to burn the American flag (you can still burn anyone else’s flag though). Why wouldn’t the Danish be any different? I’m sure some people there find it offensive when their flag is burnt. I doubt many Danes would care. The obsessive veneration of flags is pretty much a uniquely American pathology. It can’t be compared to a religious offense in any case. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/76 "2006-02-04T03:49:05Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > Sorry, it does. It has everything to do with this thread. > > This thread is, ultimately, about freedom of expression. And, indeed, Theo Van Gogh’s was destroyed. > > JoseB Nope. It has zero to do with the question posed in the OP, which was only about a decision made by CNN. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/77 "2006-02-04T04:34:15Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#): > > The terrorists have won if the press withholds anything, including a cartoon, out of fear of riots or that people will be attacked, kidnapped, or anything else. > [@Walter Windchill](#): > > CNN is showing a picture of the Danish flag being burned on the same article where they talk about being respectful to Islam. That is politically correct . You may be right. But what I’ve got to wondering about is this: \*\*Where was all this fearless defense of the freedom of the press and noble defiance of radical Islamist outrage last year, back when many Muslims worldwide were protesting and rioting over press reports on allegations of Qur’an desecration in American prisons? \*\* The allegations of desecration at that time were certainly frequent and substantial enough to count as news, and it’s certainly an important topic that people deserve to be informed about. That seems to me at least as deserving of press coverage as a bunch of deliberately provocative anti-Islamic cartoons. Yet during the desecration controversy, lots of people were not only criticizing the Muslim rioters (and rightly so, IMHO), but also bitterly attacking the Western press—specifically, _Newsweek_, which reported such allegations made by a government source who later retracted them. The complaint was that the media shouldn’t have unnecessarily and irresponsibly stirred up so much negative opinion in the Muslim world. We had numerous threads on the topic around here last May: [Way to start a holy war, Newsweek](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=316658&highlight=Newsweek+toilet) > [@](#): > > I’m a pretty devout Christian, but if someone was holding me hostage, desecrating a Bible would bother me, but I wouldn’t risk my security, or riot, because of it. But not everyone believes as I do, and for Newsweek to publish such a report is the heighth of irresponsibility. > [@](#): > > Any editor of any noteworthy magazine should know the potential consequences of publishing such a story. For the record, many riots turned lethal, particularly in Afghanistan. How will Newsweek compensate for those lost lives? How will Newsweek compensate for damaged property? Publishing this article was extremely reckless. The damage this has done to relations with and perceptions of the US are very serious and irrevocable. > [@](#): > > Newsweek, knowing how some factions of Islam react to certain information, and knowing that they may be putting people in harm’s way, irresponsibly disseminated a potentially explosive piece of information without checking the source. The fault does not lie with the recipients of this information; their reaction is the result of being programmed with extreme ideas and being fueled by an irresponsible news story. > [@](#): > > Why even print the article when it will only cause more anger towards our troops? > [@](#): > > It seems to me that Newsweek was much more concerned with playing “gotcha” with the Bush Administration than the consequences of thier actions. […] Newsweek should have recognized that they were putting lives in danger by publishing what appears to be third hand information. > [@](#): > > I do not understand why anyone would even print such a story, even if it was true. What is there to gain by this? > [@](#): > > Any reporter with Middle East experience would have known that allegations of Koran-bashing are taken very seriously by Muslims. Thus, certain claims need to be framed more cautiously. So. **May 2005** : _Newsweek_ reports on credible allegations about a very explosive issue that involves anti-Islamic sacrilege. The Muslim world erupts in outrage. People start bitching right and left about this criminal irresponsibility on the part of the media, and saying they should have avoided giving the fanatics an excuse for violence and increasing Muslim hostility towards us, and won’t somebody please think of the troops, and so forth. **February 2006** : A Danish paper publishes a bunch of gratuitously offensive anti-Islamic cartoons. The Muslim world erupts in outrage. People start cheering right and left about this heroic gesture in defense of free speech, and declaring that we should never let fears of Muslim violence affect what we show in our press, and any media outlet that doesn’t want to reproduce those cartoons is being cravenly PC, and so forth. 😕😕😕 I can only conclude that a lot of people must think that disseminating tasteless political cartoons about Muhammad is a much more important freedom-of-the-press cause than reporting on allegations of detainee abuse in our prisons. I sure as hell can’t figure out why, though. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/78 "2006-02-04T04:39:19Z")
Just an FYI: According to an NPR report I heard today, the Shia sect of Islam is ok with images of Mohammed. They report that his image is readily available for purchase all over Tehran, among other Shia-dominated cities. ---
**Author:** ![Pope\_Bob\_The\_Pious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@Pope\_Bob\_The\_Pious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pope_Bob_The_Pious)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/79 "2006-02-04T07:16:09Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > The preferred spelling is M **u** slim with a u. “Moslem” is still sometimes used but disliked by Muslims as it leads to mispronunciations. I would guess that the [American Moslem Foundation](http://www.oz.net/~msarram/introduction.html) might disagree with you. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887/80 "2006-02-04T07:25:29Z")
> [@Pope Bob The Pious](#): > > I would guess that the [American Moslem Foundation](http://www.oz.net/~msarram/introduction.html) might disagree with you. And the United Negro College Fund blah blah blah. I’m sure the preferred spelling is “Muslim” - that seems to be most popular, and if I had my AP Stylebook on hand, I’d guarantee it says to use that spelling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-riots-over-cartoons-is-political-correctness-going-overboard/342887.md?page=5)