04.11.06
Free Speech or Hate Speech?
The infamous cartoons that depicted our Prophet, the Messenger of Allah, as a “terrorist” with a bomb wrapped around his head published in Denmark, were placed all over campus today (RIT). With the cartoon, there was also article. The article was entitled, “In the Name of Justice and the Right to Speak,” written by the the Undercurrent staff. It tried to “justify” the disgusting depiction. Here is an excerpt,
“On this special edition flyer, we
have printed a rendition of one of the
cartoons that Muslims demand to see
censored. We are including it in pro-
test and defiance of that demand. If
you are offended, we implore you to
set your emotions aside and to con-
sider the issue at stake: do individu-
als have the right to publish material
that others find offensive, without
fear of violence?
These people have tried to take advantage of the ignorances of the people. The article failed to mention that months before this racist cartoon publication, the same Denmark newspaper declined to print similar depections of Jesus (a). This is certainly not about “freedom of speech.” Plus, there is a fine line between hate-speech and “free-speech.”
PrometheusBound Said:
April 12, 2006 at 7:49 am
Cartoons for the sake of demonization of an already demonized minority is not at test of freedom of speech, all it dose is plant seeds of hate and bigotry. Freedom of speech should not be curtailed, but speech that encourages hatred should also not go unchallenged.
Amel Said:
April 15, 2006 at 1:19 pm
I do not believe the right granted to us in the constitution was meant to be used to support hate and to foster animosity among Americans.Free speech is not meant to put anyone at risk and to perpetuate xenophobia, especially at a time when Muslims are most vulnerable. Maybe there is no direct perceivable threat right now, but this propaganda campaign that is being waged against Muslims at all levels of media, not just college campuses, only serves to make non-muslim Americans more apathetic when it comes to dangerous foreign policy affecting Muslims abroad.