READER RESPONSE: Cartoons and the Prophet of Islam

All is fair game in the West
Scott South
Feb 17, 06 1:54pm


Your columnist Azly Rahman is surprisingly shrill and illogical in his cartoon-related anger and plea for Malaysia to boycott Danish good - for up to five years! In the West, we do criticize various major religions and even their prophets - and sometimes severely. Freedom of speech, enshrined in the West, is there to protect unpopular ideas, not just popular ones. It is how we continually strive to improve our societies - by thinking and debating, not passively believing everything some cleric or prime minister says. I have seen artwork that severely parodies Jesus Christ in the West, and bestselling books such as The Da Vinci Code are extremely critical of various Christian denominations. What makes Muslims think they have special privileges not to have their faith criticised in the West? It doesn't work that way. In the theocratic dictatorships of Muslim countries, yes, but not in the West.