“Have you ever come across any Muslim that mocks swears or draws offensive pic for other religion”?
Somebody called Abdul asked me this rather grammatically challenged question on Twitter, when I announced I intend to organise a Mohammed Cartoon Exhibit in September – with Geert Wilders as my guest speaker.
To be fair to Abdul, I don’t think I have come across a Muslim who draws offensive cartoons of other religions, but I have come across Muslims who mutilate their daughters and/or force them in to marriage, who treat women as sub-human generally, and who think they have every right to tell the rest of us what we can or cannot do and say. Frankly, I would rather the offensive cartoons.
I get asked a lot of questions in my line of work; people find it a mixture of fascinating, terrifying, and awkward when I tell them that I run a website called Sharia Watch. I anticipate several questions related to our Mohammed cartoon exhibit, so I’ll take this opportunity to prepare the answers in advance.
Why would you arrange a Mohammed cartoon exhibition?
Because I am Spartacus and it’s an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment. Those of who believe in free speech, democracy, and Western civilisation have simply got to stand up now; both to Islamists who seek to impose their religion on to our world, and to the government and media who refuse to effectively oppose them. The greatest threat to our democracy is this casual refusal to clearly state the importance of our speech, and the greatest threat to our speech is sadly coming from Islam. We have to stop expecting someone else to take the risk of standing up to the world’s bullies, we all have a duty now.
Don’t you realise you will offend thousands of people?
I do realise that and I couldn’t care less. I’m offended every day of my life – largely because of the actions carried out in the name of Islamic scripture. What the Koran says about women (read some of it here) is deeply offensive to me. Child marriage offends me. FGM offends me. Sharia law offends me. I’m offended by the lies and the cowardice of my political leaders who refuse to protect what is great about British culture and heritage. If I can be a grown-up and accept that my feelings are going to get hurt, then so can everyone else. Besides, some of them should be in prison so injured feelings is the very least they deserve.
Why Geert Wilders ?
Because the man has given up his freedom, he faces real threats to his safety, and he’s put his neck on the line for European freedom. He is proud of the heritage of Europeans, and so am I. He is exactly the kind of brave and unflinching politician we need.
Don’t we have a duty to be sensitive to Islam?
No, we do not. We are under no obligation to be sensitive to anyone about anything, but when the folk demanding sensitivity generally have little to say about brutal violence carried out in the name of their religion, then I think they’ve got a bit of a cheek demanding anything. I’m not talking about Islamic State either, I’m talking about Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and other oppressive prison-states. We hear a lot from Islamic groups about freedom of religion, rarely in the context of Christians being executed in Pakistan however.
Why do you single out Islam?
Because it deserves to be singled out – it presents a unique danger. This is not because of terrorism; terrorism comes from all kinds of groups and for all kinds of causes. This is about life within lands where Islam calls the shots. It’s about the death penalty for speaking, it’s about death for homosexuality and adultery, and it’s about the stupid and complicit Western left which pretends none of this is important.
The restrictions, the fear, and the misogyny that so characterise life within Islamic states is now a very potent reality in Western countries, and its having a real impact. Censorship is rife, gang-rape is widespread, and most people are too frightened to speak out about it. Taking all of this in to account, my feeling is that a cartoon exhibit, to reclaim our freedom, is the very least we can do.
To help make this event take place – please click on this link and donate what you can. It is much needed, and appreciated.