From the site NO to Political Islam:
NO to Political Islam, YES to Human Rights
We, the undersigned, oppose Political Islam, its agenda of hatred and oppression, and its imposition of the most barbaric interpretation of Sharia law. We seek a future in which all people, men and women, Muslims and non-Muslims, enjoy the benefits of equality, justice, democracy and human rights, and freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought, and freedom of expression
Get involved. Help create the kind of world you want your children to live in. Sign the petition.
If you want to know more about the evils of Political Islam, read my review of The Islamist by Ed Husain.
With the name of God, Peace be unto you.
As salamu ‘alikum wr wb brother Richard. I whole heartdly agree with this petition but I honestly do have one caveat: Freedom of expression maybe could be amended ‘with taste’. Because if some limits are not imposed people do all kinds of things.
http://www.kidzworld.com/article/2648-art-or-just-plain-crap < Case in point and this was definitely not art. This was not something repoted in national media but did you know who actually stopped them from putting a picture of jesus in a bottle of urine and calling it ART? Not my favourite group of Muslims, but they were Muslims indeed. More political in their agenda but may Allah bless them. They showed up infront of the musuem and protested against this.
These people call anything art just to offend people and push buttons. I think we all have to be a little responsible. Who wants to go driving down a highway and see a huge advertisement of two young men naked holding each other with a statement underneath 'It's only natural'.
Some times art can also get blurred and enter into hidden psycological depths of sadomasichism. If we as a society are not responsible we do not know what kinds of things we can and will unleash from the depths of some unstable person's mind.
"Non-Christians, offended by the Christian religion, were said to have marched in front of New York's Whitney Museum with signs that read, "Where's the Feces?" and "Blasphemy Now!" < The Non-Christians there were the Muslims.
We just don't find offense to people drawing the prophet Muhammed (saw) as a dog, but people who want to put pictures of Jesus in bottles of urine, and make pictures of Mary with feces all over her. These people are free to profain the sacred in the privacy of thier own homes.
I am not sure we should have things like this in public view and than label it 'art' it so cheapens the great contributions to art by so many people who have worked so hard with so much talent.
To draw a picture of Mary that any 4th grader could do and than smear it with elephant dung is just there to tick people off.
Other than that I would be more than happy to sign this petition.
May Allah continue to bless you and your family.
As-salaamu Alaykum brother Jonathan,
Believe me, I agree that a lot of what passes for “art” is crap designed to provoke a negative emotional response by offending religion. It’s a cheep shot to fifteen minutes of fame. I think we should do everything we can to expose folks who do that as selfish attention-grabbing enemies of the public good. But unfortunately, it is very difficult to legislate “freedom of expression with taste.” We need to take the path of education and public rebuke of folks who choose to abuse others just to make a name for themselves.
The “Draw Muhammad” movement is an interesting case in point. I think it attracts so much attention because of the obvious hypocrisy of saying “Do not say we are violent or we will kill you!” Personally, I don’t think it is helpful to provoke Muslims like this because it is not just a “silly little cartoon” with no history. On the contrary, it is like a pinnacle of provocation standing atop a mountain of needlessly provocative lies and slander against Islam that has been going on for decades. In other words, it will not help. And since helping the world wake up from this nightmare of warring factions is one of the primary duties of everyone living, I oppose the “draw Muhammad” thing. But I also think it exposes a real problem in the Muslim world. The fact that the Political Islamists are able to manipulate the masses to riot because of cartoons indicates that they have way too much influence.
I am glad we agree about the main thrust of the petition. I hope it does some good. Just one heart changed for the better is a victory.
Many blessings in the God of Truth,
Richard