Shamelessly pinched from a Persian manuscript
Today's the day the internet hath designated as a moment to take a stand for free speech against self-imposed sharia. I don't believe in gratuitously insulting religious belief or in blaspheming other people's religion. I believe in most circumstances it is uncivil and immoral to insult someone just because you can.
However, I do believe in civilization; in refusing to be cowed by extremists who have invented the prohibition against images of Mohammed; and in exercising rights that Muslims and imams claim for themselves.
- The image above is but one in a long history of Muslim renderings of Mohammed; there is no Islamic prohibition on depicting the prophet except in extremist Wahabism. The "orthodox" Muslim prohibition is against figures of any kind in sacred spaces. At the link you can see an Algerian postcard of Mohammed's escape from Mecca from as late as 1920-30!
- And let's not forget that the three truly insulting, blasphemous, offensive-also-to-me cartoons of Mohammed that started the Danish-cartoon riots were not posted in that Danish paper, but created by imams who wanted to stir up hatred of the West.
"Subtle Humor," from The Ryskind Sketchbook
Reason is supposed to post results from its draw Mohammed contest later today.
May I just add, though, that my free speech rights are not threatened nearly so much by Islamic extremists as they are by the Obama administration & Pelosi Congress?
There is the DISCLOSE act, a bill to impose civil and criminal penalties on political speech, the attitude behind which is exemplified by the chilling chatter of our regulatory czar (whose duties include telling companies how much they can pay their CEOs, which essentially means there is no longer a right of contract in the US). The President just gave a commencement address which was a sustained attack on free political speech, demonizing anyone who disagrees with him while at the same time calling for civility.
He creates a cult of personality around himself, "I don't appreciate...oil company executives' testimony," "I have better things to do than run car companies..." as if he were a monarch paternally overseeing his children and not a person elected to office with delegated powers it his privilege to exercise for a time. His White House encourages people to "sign" bills, deliberately undermining the Constitutional understanding of how power is to be exercised.
The free exercise of religion, indeed, the rational underpinning of human rights, is under attack.
They are printing money, which is not only an economic problem, it's a moral and political one. Here is a line from Federalist #44 which deserves further thought.
As Madison wrote, the problem was not money so much as trust. By undermining the currency, the states broke down the essential forms of trust necessary to a free society.
This guy is more incendiary and scary-looking.
But it's the perky. little. tyrants. who just want to help who are actually restricting our freedoms little by little, more and more each day.
May I just add, though, that my free speech rights are not threatened nearly so much by Islamic extremists as they are by the Obama administration & Pelosi Congress?
There is the DISCLOSE act, a bill to impose civil and criminal penalties on political speech, the attitude behind which is exemplified by the chilling chatter of our regulatory czar (whose duties include telling companies how much they can pay their CEOs, which essentially means there is no longer a right of contract in the US). The President just gave a commencement address which was a sustained attack on free political speech, demonizing anyone who disagrees with him while at the same time calling for civility.
He creates a cult of personality around himself, "I don't appreciate...oil company executives' testimony," "I have better things to do than run car companies..." as if he were a monarch paternally overseeing his children and not a person elected to office with delegated powers it his privilege to exercise for a time. His White House encourages people to "sign" bills, deliberately undermining the Constitutional understanding of how power is to be exercised.
The free exercise of religion, indeed, the rational underpinning of human rights, is under attack.
They are printing money, which is not only an economic problem, it's a moral and political one. Here is a line from Federalist #44 which deserves further thought.
The loss which America has sustained since the peace, from the pestilent effects of paper money on the necessary confidence between man and man, on the necessary confidence in the public councils, on the industry and morals of the people, and on the character of republican government, constitutes an enormous debt against the States chargeable with this unadvised measure, which must long remain unsatisfied; or rather an accumulation of guilt, which can be expiated no otherwise than by a voluntary sacrifice on the altar of justice, of the power which has been the instrument of it.Madison is referring there to a debt crisis caused right after the Revolution when states printed money not backed by any stable commodity, causing runaway inflation. Creditors stopped accepting unsecured paper money, commerce ground to a halt, farmers couldn't get credit, so states passed laws that stopped foreclosures and debt collection, causing credit markets to collapse utterly, and everyone was reduced to barter. There were riots in the streets and Europe laughed at the teetering republic, just waiting to re-colonize.
As Madison wrote, the problem was not money so much as trust. By undermining the currency, the states broke down the essential forms of trust necessary to a free society.
necessary confidence between man and man…necessary confidence in the public councils…the industry and morals of the people, and…the character of republican government.That's what our government czars with their regulations do every day. It's nice to say, "you make too much money in this time of financial crisis, " but what you're really telling people is that there is no way of knowing when I sign a contract whether it will be honored....and therefore, I don't have much obligation to honor my part. It contributes to the collapse of basic morality on which freedom rests. Our decline right now is so fast it's dizzying and the Congress just keeps right on going.
This guy is more incendiary and scary-looking.
But it's the perky. little. tyrants. who just want to help who are actually restricting our freedoms little by little, more and more each day.
