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The Jyllands-Posten Editor Speaks
Feb. 19th, 2006 08:32 am♠
“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.”
-- Flemming Rose, "Why I Published Those Cartoons" in The Washington Post
Mr. Rose is the culture editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, and thus we get a more elaborate statement from the supposed source of that controversy which still rages today. He alludes to how the controversy has been stoked up in Mideast countries by governments that have more to do with their own political maneuvering with Islamist movements than with the cartoons themselves, which is also reported on by Hassan M. Fattah in The NY Times. And it does seem to me that we should not have to act as if Muslims belong on the short bus so that we have to be more sensitive about offending the special-ed. kids.
Let's just hope that Mr. Rose does not end up murdered and dismembered, as it may be premature to celebrate the reign of the Enlightenment in Europe just yet.
( Rose column )
xXx
“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.”
-- Flemming Rose, "Why I Published Those Cartoons" in The Washington Post
Mr. Rose is the culture editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, and thus we get a more elaborate statement from the supposed source of that controversy which still rages today. He alludes to how the controversy has been stoked up in Mideast countries by governments that have more to do with their own political maneuvering with Islamist movements than with the cartoons themselves, which is also reported on by Hassan M. Fattah in The NY Times. And it does seem to me that we should not have to act as if Muslims belong on the short bus so that we have to be more sensitive about offending the special-ed. kids.
Let's just hope that Mr. Rose does not end up murdered and dismembered, as it may be premature to celebrate the reign of the Enlightenment in Europe just yet.
( Rose column )
