More proof that Islam and Western Culture are incompatible. The West is at war with Islamists. Time to admit the truth and take the fight to the enemy,

These discussions conflate two different issues: the prohibition among Sunnis (but not among Shia) of depicting Muhammad and blasphemy - in other words, insulting him. The Charlie Hebdo Islamic terrorists were caught on the video yelling that they had avenged their prophet - suggesting that blasphemy as opposed to simple depiction was their "grievance".
This raises the issue of whether there is a difference between showing the image or describing it. It would seem that if what is depicted in the cartoon is Muhammad in an embarrassing or unflattering light, then the jihadist would be equally offended by the image as by the written (let alone oral) description of what is depicted.
The studied refusal of most of the U.S. media and academia, then, is either a study in hypocrisy or a display of an extremely condescending attitude toward Muslims reminiscent of Boss Tweed's objection to Thomas Nast's caricatures of him, "my constituents don't know how to read but they can't help seeing them damned pictures." Perhaps it's a bit of both.

"If the major educational institutions of the Western world cannot summon the courage to defend freedom of speech, who is going to do that?”

WHO? First and foremost it should be the putative LEADER of the Free World.

But the current formal occupant of that post has abdicated that responsibility. He is too busy telling the likes of Charlie Hedbo that it should exercise "good judgment" by not lampooning Islam (but no hint that savaging Catholicism and Judaism with cartoons is anything but good clean fun) ... and then not going (or sending a senior official) to Paris to march with most European leaders protesting this latest bout of murderous savagery. All of that was done while Presidentially lying to the public that the Secret Service just couldn't provide necessary security ... WHERE THE SECRET SERVICE HAD NOT EVEN BEEN ASKED THE QUESTION AND COULD VERY WELL HAVE PROVIDED THAT SECURITY.

Every Democracy gets the government it deserves.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/be...
Islam must be freed from radical Islam. We must say and say again: To assassinate in
the name of God is to make God an assassin by association.
Bernard-Henri Levy

________________________
As for Yale courage:
In the 1950's McCarthy commie-under-every-pillow madness , the distinguished Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History and author of the biography of Martin Luther "Here I Stand", Professor Roland H. Bainton, was approached by a former student then working for the government .
The former student offered Bainton a proposal from his government bosses that Bainton spy on his colleagues at Yale as an act of patriotic service. Bainton, a Quaker, replied: "Tell your bosses to go to hell."
That courage is missing at Yale today.

I recall seeing a beautiful painting of the Prophet Muhammad at an art gallery downtown.

Wonder what the oldest depiction is,where it is,He preached roughly 600 AD?

Some books have been written, Divine Comedy,Inferno ;
"No barrel, not even one where the hoops and staves go every which way, was ever split open like one frayed Sinner I saw, ripped from chin to where we fart below.His guts hung between his legs and displayed His vital organs, including that wretched sack Which converts to shit whatever gets conveyed down the gullet.As I stared at him he looked back And with his hands pulled his chest open, Saying, "See how I split open the crack in myself! See how twisted and broken Mohammed is! Before me walks Ali, his face Cleft from chin to crown, grief–stricken"..

The NY State Appellate Court building on Madison Square is gorgeous and decorated on top with statues of various historical lawgivers: Moses, Solon, Justinian ... and, originally, Mohammed!

After the UN was built, somebody from a Muslim country notified the NY courts that the Mohammed statue was not exactly an appropriate way of honoring the Prophet, at which point it was removed and presumably exists in some warehouse. The vacant pedestal is still visible on the building.

Terror of offending Islam isn't a method to impose some goal.
Terror of offending Islam is the goal, the new reality, that Islam wishes to impose, apparently. Some religions have never advocated violence, other religions gave it up centuries ago. Only Islam regularly practices murder and enslavement of entire populations in the 21st century.

Sisi has recommended Islam reform its teaching and drop the right to murder whoever offends them. Obama OTOH, has not. The Democrats in the WH are still calling jihadist murders "workplace violence" and will not name Islam as part of the problem. Why?

Obama is leading Democrats in the entirely wrong direction on the issue of freedom of speech. It is time for good Democrats to reclaim the principle of freedom of thought and speech. To do this you must first denounce Obama's tolerance of the evil done by Islam's always present Jihadists, because Islam built this.

Any change will come from the students. Your faculty dare not defy either Obama or Islam...everybody knows that :-)

to BubbaJoe123

Where is your umbrella, Mr. Chamberlain?
Paul Keane
M. Div. '80

To YDN Editors:
That's better.
PK

Of course an academic press should self censor because who would have though to include protection of free speech in the union contract? If the physical plant staff or the people in the mail room feel like their contract was broken they can file a grievance or strike.

You left out donations as a reason not to criticize Islam.
Follow the money.