Islam
Everybody draw Mohammed redux
Well, I drew Mohammed, albeit in a purely derivative way (which makes me an ultra conventional modern artist, I guess). I did it this way to make a very minor point, that one does not have to be disrespectful to stand up for your rights. I will never fall into idolatry over Mohammed. If he is in Heaven, he got there by an extraordinary act of mercy by the grace of God in my opinion because he did many wicked things on earth and led many people astray. Even under a Caliphate run by normal muslims I would retain the right to that opinion as a dhimmi.
But I drew Mohammed today because many muslims are not normal and their more numerous normal bretheren are not keeping these extremists in check. I don’t expect that my blog post will get me any more than inclusion in the generic condemnation by these evil muslim jurists who abuse their powers and shame their own faith through their exaggerated fatwas but it’s the thought that counts. I stand with freedom and against censorship. I’ve done my bit. Now it’s your turn.
Overlooked
The latest flap concerning Muslim extremists getting bent out of shape over a South Park episode, and how the network censored images of the prophet, is a case of history repeating itself.
A previous ep from 2006 supposedly depicted Mohammad, until the network excised all images of that particular worthy. They even went so far as to bleep out every utterance of his name. All done in the fear that, unless appeased, intolerant practitioners of the Religion of Peace would indulge in an orgy of bloodshed and fire.
I wrote Comedy Central at the time, taking them to task for their shameless act of cowardice. I received a well spoken, thoughtfully composed reply that explained the concerns of the network.
Col. Frederick Gustavus Burnaby
Col. Frederick Gustavus Burnaby, late of the Royal Horse Guards (the Blues), author of A Ride to Khiva: Travels and Adventures in Central Asia and On Horseback Through Asia Minor. He was also a pioneering aeronaut, author of A Ride Across the Channel: and Other Adventures in the Air. Col. Burnaby met his death in the hand-to-hand fighting of the Battle of Abu Klea, 1885. Queen Victoria fainted when she heard of his death.
Captain Frederick Augustus Burnaby of the Royal Horse Guards was no ordinary officer. For a start he was a man of prodigious strength and stature. Standing six-foot-four in his stockinged feet, weighing fifteen stone, and possessing a 47 inch chest, he was reputed to be the strongest man in the British Army. Indeed, it was even said that he could carry a small pony under his arm. … Nor was this son of a country parson entirely brawn. He also displayed a remarkable gift for languages, being fluent in at least seven, including Russian, Turkish and Arabic. Finally, he was born with an insatiable appetite for adventure which he combined with a vigorous and colourful prose style. Inevitably, these two latter qualities brought him into contact with Fleet Street, with the result that during his generous annual leaves he served abroad on several occasions as a special correspondent of The Times and other journals … .
From The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia
I am halfway through “A Ride to Khiva” and I am very grateful to Google Books, which provides full text, out-of-copyright books, at this point everything published before 1922. Through this wonderful service, I have been easily able to make the acquaintance of this extraordinary officer in his own prose, via Kindle.
One quote from the book. Burnaby is in St. Petersburg, and he sends a written request to the Russian Minister of War, Gen. Miliutin, asking his leave to travel across Russia and on to Khiva, which is (at that point) still beyond the Russian frontier. Miliutin responds in the negative, and offering as his explanation that he cannot answer for the security of travelers beyond the Tsar’s domains.
I should have much liked to have asked Gen. Miliutin one question, and to have heard his answer — not given solemnly as the Russian Chancellor makes his promises, but face to face, as a soldier — would he, when a captain, have turned his face homeward to St. Petersburg simply because he was told by a foreign government that it could not be responsible for his safety? I do not think so; and I have a far higher opinion of the Russian officers than to imagine that they would be deterred by such an argument if used to them under circumstances similar to those in which I found myself.
Burnaby, of course, goes anyway.
For further details, see The Life of Colonel Fred Burnaby By Thomas Wright (1908), and The True Blue: The Life and Adventures of Colonel Fred Burnaby
1st Annual Draw Mohammed Day Announced
Citizens Against Citizens Against Humor is sponsoring Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, May 20th. Reason Magazine improved on this by naming it an annual event, and offering to post the best ones on their site.
The reason to do this is the dingbats of ‘the religion of peace’ have taken a sensible measure against idolatry in the form of worshiping Mohammed and twisted it into a measure that threatens violence if anybody makes any depiction of Mohammed, no matter how removed from reality. This has come up practically in South Park (yes, that South Park) as Comedy Central has recently censored a bear suit Mohammed as well as an episode finish speech on the value of not giving in to intimidation that does not mention Mohammed at all.
I look forward to all the art classes in our area participating in this important exercise in free speech… oh who am I kidding. Those of you with the guts to do this, I look forward to seeing your efforts.
crossposted Northwest Indiana Politics