Everybody Draw Mohammed Day

[klingers]

I was umming and aahing about posting this as understandably it can be a controversial topic, but I figured that as a general point we could have a fun and positive discussion.

Was anyone else planning on doing something for Everybody Draw Mohammed Day? (Don't worry, that link just directs to the Wikipedia article) on May 20th?

I've got something planned based on inspiration from a friend which should hopefully allow me to draw the Muslim prophet without actually drawing the Muslim prophet.

Obviously the fact that I'm participating in this kind of points you towards my personal views on freedom of speech, but with that in mind I'm actually really attempting with my entry this week to achieve highlighting the sillyness of all this without actually offending anyone's religious beliefs.

Without getting into any kind of ideological debate which we all know can get rather unpleasant rather quickly, was anyone else intending to put anything up in their comic or on the DA account later this week? I'd love to see the community's take on this come Thursday.

[Rob]

My comic is actually in a flashback that has my major characters in the Middle East. I've also been there myself as a Gulf War vet.

For me.... I wouldn't even think about censoring anyone else and if someone feels the need to do this for whatever reason then that's their business. I don't think they should be threatened or harmed for it.

But for me it just isn't necessary. I live in a country where we have the freedom to do these sorts of things. If I want to draw Mohammed I can draw him night and day for the rest of my life and no one is going to stop me or censor me. So doing so won't change anything here in the U.S.

What it will do is offend Muslim people who have no beef with me and aren't radicals looking to overthrow my country or whatever, along with the freedom hating bullies whom I would most likely intend to offend.

The Daily Show did a piece on this where they had Larry Wilmore come out and say something along the lines (and I'm paraphrasing):

John Stewart: So if someone drew a picture of the prophet Mohammed... that would bother you as a Muslim?

Larry Wilmore: Yes.

Larry Wilmore: But it bother's me more that there are people out there who think someone should be hurt or killed just for doing so.

Now the Wikipedia article says that Wilmore was raised Catholic so I have no idea how he ended up the Senior Muslim Correspondent on The Daily Show but he seemed sincere in his statement. And that really brings it home for me.

If you want to catch some fish you use a hook or a net. Some folks even use dynamite but you don't drain the sea. If I want to offend Muslim fundamentalists who hate freedom and want to bring my country down and think people should be hurt or killed for drawing Mohammed.... honestly I can think of way more creative ways to mock and insult them than simply drawing Mohammed. I don't need to offend all Muslims just to insult some of them. That's draining the sea to catch some fish.

Now if I lived in a country where drawing Mohammed was against the law THEN there would be merit to drawing him simply because that freedom of expression is what every human should enjoy. The sort of civil disobedience is something I support and applaud. But I don't live in a country like that. And something like "Draw Mohammed Day" doesn't mean anything to me. I'm not a Muslim and I'm not oppressed. I have no dog in the fight. So I don't see the point.

But like I said, anyone else that feels the need to thumb their nose at this situation... that's your prerogative. I understand the desire to point and laugh at people who take something like this so seriously that they want to hurt someone over it. It's tempting but I'm just not personally into it.

[Rob]

Oh and I'd like to add that there certainly may be legitimate value in mocking an entire religion. South Park has been absolutely viscous to the Mormons and attacks all sacred cows with impunity. But with South Park they aren't doing things like drawing Mohammed simply to offend Muslims or thumb their noses at fundamentalists who want to hurt people over the drawing. They have a more overarching goal of pointing out the... I guess the best way to put it would be, peculiarities and shortcomings that exist in all man made religions and mocking the people who believe these things blindly.

The points they bring up inform and inspire discourse on subjects that people don't often talk about because they are largely seen as taboo. Questioning your or someone else's faith in a measured and thoughtful manner is not an easy thing to do.

So what they do has value as it inspires discussions that are not only important to the faithful but also society as a whole. And I see that as something different than simply drawing Mohammed for the sake of drawing Mohammed. Believe me if it fits into my storyline and there is something thought provoking I could say about Mohammed, the Muslim religion or what have you I would not hesitate to do so if I felt it was important to the story. But I wouldn't do it for the reasons that the Draw Mohammed day was created.

[Gibson]

Yeh, I'd have to say this whole thing seems pointlessly antagonistic. I can see how a lot of people might see something like this and think it's all about standing up for free expression, and it might be, but the end result is that a lot of people's faith are insulted, most of whom have no desire to threaten or harm anyone. It would be like everyone speeding while driving drunk to protest the Rodney King beating. Sure, people should be a lot more chill about their sacred cows (not quite a pun) and it wouldn't be a bad idea for folks to take their religions a little less seriously, but this doesn't seem like the wisest reaction to the situation.

[TTallan]

Well put, you guys.

[Hjels]

I'm too much of a coward. :P

[Rob]

Legendary Woodsman reminded me it was in fact Aasif Mandvi who did the bit I mentioned in my first post above. That actually makes a heck of a lot more sense.

Link to tha clip.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-april-22-2010/south-park-death-threats

And a hale and hearty "mah baad!"

[klingers]

I've got to say folks, some really well thought out opinions here! I completely agree with what you're saying about being needlessly antagonistic, although as I'm still clinging to the last vestiges of that left-wing, uninformed self-righteousness some of us pick up at university (the cynical fascism of the real world hasn't completely got to me yet) I've still got a bit of a need to make a noise about something that I think needs to be made noisy. Thankfully at least it's tempered by a little bit of prudence.

That's why I've got something a little off-the-wall planned that'll hopefully make the same statement without actually raising the same ire. I figure that enough other people will be doing rather unflattering portrayals of a certain religious icon that will most definitely go beyond what's fair and needed without me adding to it.

Basically, I won't actually be depicting Mohammed in my strip. It's going to be a rather "meta" experience instead. I completely understand what you're saying in this thread. Thanks for the discussion  ;)

[LegendWoodsman]

Legendary Woodsman reminded me it was in fact Aasif Mandvi who did the bit I mentioned in my first post above.

What can I say? I love my Jon Daily show with Stew Beef. :D

[Rob]

By way of The Daily Cartoonist.

This is pretty funny.

http://www.markfiore.com/

I'm referring to Inky Al-Jihadi.

[Gibson]

Dr Mrs The Gibson Twist and I were talking and we came on the idea that, if anyone is serious about wanting to break down dogmatic blindness and this isn't just a stunt to piss off Muslims, then organizing something like Draw Wacky Jesus Day or Draw Abraham on the Toilet Day or the like would be in order.

[NoahRodenbeek]

I thought the point was that either of those things could be drawn without reprisal?  Isn't everyday Draw-Wacky-Jesus Day?

[Gar]

So when's Draw Abraham on the Toilet Day?

[NoahRodenbeek]

Is it worse to draw Abraham on the toilet than to draw a wacky Jesus?

[Gar]

Well Jesus has been used as a comedy character quite a lot already, to the point where it's kind of strange to see him played straight in comics any more.

I reccommend 'Jesus Christ: In the name of the Gun' for action-comedy Jesus though. It's by the same artist who does Axe Cop. Not the same writer, but still very funny. It's about 80 pages long. Touted as Volume 1, but volume 2 never materialised.