Everyone Draw Muhammad Day

Today is Everyone Draw Muhammad Day, a day which began as a peaceful protest against the censorship of a recent South Park episode which depicted the prophet Muhammad dressed in a bear suit.  While only the bear suit, and not the prophet Muhammad himself, was depicted (in the cartoon in question, South Park did depict the prophet Muhammad sans costuming in a previous episode) the episode was quickly targeted by Muslim extremists who claimed the cartoon was offensive as depictions of Muhammad are forbidden by Islam.  Fearing reprisal by radicals, some of whom made comments that could easily be interpreted as death threats, Comedy Central chose not to air the episode which in-turn offended a number of individuals who champion Free Speech as a cornerstone of civil rights.

I've no intention of going into the details of the event, the history of violence in response to depictions of the prophet Muhammad, or even to debate the actions of Comedy Central's response.  (I've included links to two relevant Wiki articles at the end of this post for anyone that wishes to read further.)  My only intention is to discuss my thoughts concerning the protest and post my participation.


Why I wanted to participate

Thailand's leaders have apparently found the wearing of underwear so important to the fabric of their society that they've made it illegal to leave the house commando.  As I'm not a member of Thai society, I've felt free to leave the house underwear free every day for several years now.  Religious leaders have introduced their own dictates throughout the ages, supposedly supported by the will of their deities.  As I'm not a member of their religions, and am not convinced their deities exist, I feel just as free to ignore their commands as I do Thai underwear law.

So far the Thai government has made no attempt to force me by way of petition or threat to follow their laws.  Religious leaders and devotees, however, frequently attempt to force compliance with their specific deistic directives regardless of individual affiliation.  This pisses me right off.

I do not believe that extremists, of any stripe, that demand all follow the laws of their religion should be obliged.  In fact, I believe they should be directly challenged.  In this specific instance, Muslim extremists have demanded that all individuals be forced to obey the dictates of hadith because they find disobedience offensive.  To them I say simply -

Too fuckin' bad.

My thoughts on offence

A number of individuals have chosen to participate in Everyone Draw Muhammad Day by drawing caricatures that are clearly intended to offend.  Freedom of speech does have limits, but those limits are set far higher than moral indignation.  Perhaps those individuals are making a specific point - that they not only have the right to depict Muhammad in the same benign fashion the South Park creators did, but that they also have the right to depict Muhammad in a vile and degrading fashion.  Or perhaps they're making a statement about how intimidation through threat of violence often backfires.  Or maybe they're hateful, bigoted pricks.  It's hard to tell.

I readily admit that I'm anti-theistic, but I generally refrain from being blatantly offensive to non-fundamentalists.  For me, this protest was about flipping off radicals - not offending moderates.

Moderate Muslims?

Yes, moderate Muslims exist.  Frankly, I'm disappointed this even has to be mentioned.  Granted, the Muslim population is fairly small here in the US but that's no excuse for a mass display of ignorance.  There are somewhere in the number of 159 Million Christians in this country.  A handful of those millions also happen to be violent nutjobs who use their faith as justification for psychotic behavior.  If I were to paint all of those 159 Million Christians with the abortion-doctor-shooting, child-raping, medically-neglectful, militia brush I'd be called out in a heartbeat.

There's a word for people who use brushes that broad - bigot.



Before I present my happy little drawing of Muhammad, I'd like to present a video and ask that you please watch it.  I've learned a great deal from this young man in the past few days, and I hope to learn a great deal more from him in the future.  If you like what you see give it a thumbs up and if you're a YouTuber, please consider subscribing.









Now, without further ado, here's what all the fuss is about:

I chose to depict Muhammad as a cartoon flame because it has historic precedence and is pretty incredibly non-offensive. Should someone still manage to take offense, I'm secure in the knowledge that I didn't offend them intentionally.

Following Ali's lead - I would now like to direct you to the top of the side bar where I've included an image link to the Foundation Beyond Belief.  If you feel so inclined, give a little in the name of free speech.


UPDATE:  My husbandish did a drawing yesterday as well, only I haven't been able to upload it now... so... we're double-participated.

Related Wiki articles:  Everybody Draw Mohammed Day and Depictions of Muhammad