Everybody Draw Muhammad Day

Daniel S. writes:

The anti-jihad blogs are heavily promoting “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day,” which is today. Author Brad Thor explains the reasons behind the event. I see nothing wrong with this act of defiance against Islamic aggression, but I wonder what is the long term use of such an event. It is easy to mock Muhammad on a handful of anti-jihad blogs, but what does this do to limit actual Islamic aggression? While this event has sparked the expected reaction from the Muslims, what is the long term plan of these online anti-jihad bloggers? I think several important questions need to be asked and answered. Why is Islam a threat to free speech in the West? Will further attempts at mocking Muhammad and Islam do anything to minimize or end the threat of Islamic aggression against the West? I would argue that the answer is no, and as such would like to know what further actions will be taken or policies advocated by the anti-jihad bloggers to address this threat. Do these bloggers fully understand what it is they are even taking on?

Again, I do not oppose what the anti-jihad bloggers are doing and I praise their courageous act of defiance against Islam. I merely question what their long term strategy is.

LA replies:

I would say, let’s not be concerned for the moment with the problem of long term strategies. I have been challenging the inadequate Islam critics for years to state what we should DO to end the Islam threat that they are always warning about, and I will continue to do so. The “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” is a good idea in itself. At present, people are afraid of engaging in any act that will offend Muslims and bring down their wrath, such as publishing pictures of their prophet. If lots of people publish such images, are the Muslims going to threaten to kill everyone? If images of Muhammad become ubiquitous, the Islamic prohibition on such images, and the death threat that enforces that prohibition, will be broken. That’s what this day is about.

I wouldn’t be able to make a decent drawing for posting myself, but Jihad Watch has a lot on the event, with numerous readers’ drawings of Muhammad. The one above is by Brad Thor.

- end of initial entry -

Daniel S. writes:

Negative depictions of Muhammad do have a long tradition in European art and literature. Dante depicted Muhammad in Hell with his stomach cleaved open and his entrails hanging out. He was punished among the sowers of discord and violence in the lower depths of Hell. The excerpt from Dante’s Inferno concerning the divine punishment of Muhammad and an 19th century woodcut of the scene can be found here.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at May 20, 2010 04:26 PM | Send