Have Some Freedoms Gone Too Far?
Judy Ramsook
February 08, 2006
Limits, we all have them. If some one is in a bar drinking and the bartender feels that individual has had enough, he or she can stop selling the patron more booze, thus placing a limit on the amount of alcohol he or she can further consume.
If a serial killer is on the loose, the police will do all they can to capture him or her so they can place and end to his/her deeds, also limiting him. Sometimes I even find myself laughing to myself as I listen to an edited version of an Eminem hit on the radio.
For sometimes you, the listener, can hear the editorial pause or pauses after every word or phrase.
Similarly when it comes to matters such as the printed word or cartoon, in relevance to freedom of the press and freedom of expression, are some things being taken a bit too far though?
Take the recent controversy surrounding some cartoon drawings that mock an Islamic figure, the Prophet Muhammed.
Did the Danish newspaper that published the sketches do it just because they knew they could without regard for how something of such a sensitive nature could affect thousands of Moslems everywhere?
On a personal note, I am all for freedom of the press and freedom of expression. Without those rights we would not be able to post many of our opinions and or comments on the widely accessed internet, but with certain freedoms I believe there should also be an exercise in responsibility and common sense.
Knowing the sensitive state most of the world’s moslems are in right now, why make a mockery of Prophet Muhammed if such an act is going to further aggravate them? If that is what the Danish newspaper was trying to accomplish, it did a good job of it.
Some people might say if cartoonists make fun of Jesus or the Virgin Mary, many Christians the world over will not take to the streets in protest. Instead, they will lodge complaints to the editor of which ever newspaper published such drawings.
Or is that another thing the Danish newspaper was trying to achieve? Were they trying to see how Moslems the world over would react if they were to poke fun at one of their holy figures?
It seems like they did succeed in their objective, for all one has to do is take a look at the evening news to see what effect it’s having on some Moslems in the world.
Just when one thought the world was reaching a stage of some form of peace, it seems that peace is more of a far fetched dream now than ever.
Total peace cannot be achieved if every time one turns his back some one or something is offending some group or the other. It seems we are living in a world in which some country will always be at war with another for whatever reason.
If such acts continue, Earth, itself will prevail but mankind, due to constant acts of war with each other will ultimately bring an end to many members of the human race. There has to be some control somewhere in order to gain some success as far as achieving peace is concerned.
For not all Moslems are terrorists, and not all of them need to be offended for what a few of their kind have done.
If a serial killer is on the loose, the police will do all they can to capture him or her so they can place and end to his/her deeds, also limiting him. Sometimes I even find myself laughing to myself as I listen to an edited version of an Eminem hit on the radio.
For sometimes you, the listener, can hear the editorial pause or pauses after every word or phrase.
Similarly when it comes to matters such as the printed word or cartoon, in relevance to freedom of the press and freedom of expression, are some things being taken a bit too far though?
Take the recent controversy surrounding some cartoon drawings that mock an Islamic figure, the Prophet Muhammed.
Did the Danish newspaper that published the sketches do it just because they knew they could without regard for how something of such a sensitive nature could affect thousands of Moslems everywhere?
On a personal note, I am all for freedom of the press and freedom of expression. Without those rights we would not be able to post many of our opinions and or comments on the widely accessed internet, but with certain freedoms I believe there should also be an exercise in responsibility and common sense.
Knowing the sensitive state most of the world’s moslems are in right now, why make a mockery of Prophet Muhammed if such an act is going to further aggravate them? If that is what the Danish newspaper was trying to accomplish, it did a good job of it.
Some people might say if cartoonists make fun of Jesus or the Virgin Mary, many Christians the world over will not take to the streets in protest. Instead, they will lodge complaints to the editor of which ever newspaper published such drawings.
Or is that another thing the Danish newspaper was trying to achieve? Were they trying to see how Moslems the world over would react if they were to poke fun at one of their holy figures?
It seems like they did succeed in their objective, for all one has to do is take a look at the evening news to see what effect it’s having on some Moslems in the world.
Just when one thought the world was reaching a stage of some form of peace, it seems that peace is more of a far fetched dream now than ever.
Total peace cannot be achieved if every time one turns his back some one or something is offending some group or the other. It seems we are living in a world in which some country will always be at war with another for whatever reason.
If such acts continue, Earth, itself will prevail but mankind, due to constant acts of war with each other will ultimately bring an end to many members of the human race. There has to be some control somewhere in order to gain some success as far as achieving peace is concerned.
For not all Moslems are terrorists, and not all of them need to be offended for what a few of their kind have done.
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