Thursday, February 23, 2006

Respect for freedom of speach, yes....submission NO

The editor of JP has written lately why he published cartoons. I quote
"Has Jyllands-Posten insulted and disrespected Islam? It certainly didn't intend to. But what does respect mean? When I visit a mosque, I show my respect by taking off my shoes. I follow the customs, just as I do in a church, synagogue or other holy place. But if a believer demands that I, as a nonbeliever, observe his taboos in the public domain, he is not asking for my respect, but for my submission. And that is incompatible with a secular democracy."

Here I reply
" Have muslims insulted and disrespected freedom of speach? They certainly didn't intend to. But what does respect mean? When I read newspapers I show my respect to freedom of speach by showing tolerance towards the criticism of many muslims, governments of Islamic countries and practices within Islamic countries . But if a proponent of freedom of speech demands that I, as a believer of Islamic faith, follow his standards for freedom of speech even if he insults and derogates the very person who embodies Islam then he is not asking for my respect, but for my submission. And that is incompatible with my Islamic faith."

1 comment:

Trailady said...

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