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The 12 controversial cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad that was commissioned by and published in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten rocked the world and left a trail of deaths and destruction. The whole episode caused many to question the limit of the freedom of speech, especially by the press. In Responding to the Prophet Muhammad Cartoons , seasoned journalist Bob Teoh looks at the Wests view of freedom of speech, while Freedom of Expression in Malaysia by NECF Malaysia Executive Secretary (Research) looks at this freedom in the Malaysian context.
Responding to the Prophet Muhammad Cartoons
By Bob Teoh
What started out as an experiment to see whether some of the more extreme Muslim tendencies had begun affecting the freedom of expression in Denmark soon went horribly wrong. Many had died including the murder of a Catholic priest in Turkey and hundreds more injured in the ensuing fury following the publication of the 12 Muhammad caricatures by Jyllands-Posten (The Jutland Post).
How should Christians respond? We must continue to support freedom of expression in no uncertain terms as an outworking of our faith. But, in a manner that is both prophetic and redemptive. Our Saviour and Lord, the Christ Jesus, expects us to always seek the truth as this leads to freedom (John 8:32). Therein lies our prophetic mission. Jesus also reminds us to be other-centred to love our neighbours (Matthew 22:39) the redemptive dimension.
Some say free speech comes with self-restraint while others see this as self-censorship and is, therefore, untenable in a free society. Sometimes, as in this case, the price for such experiments is paid dearly by the blood of innocent victims.
This too is untenable. Self-restraint is not self-censorship nor a burden but a willing and free choice in the exercise of free speech.
Cultural Editor of Jyllands-Posten, which commissioned and published the 12 controversial cartoons by Danish illustrators after reports that artists were refusing to illustrate works about Islam out of fear of fundamentalist retribution, said: The modern, secular society is rejected by some Muslims. They demand a special position, insisting on special consideration of their own religious feelings. It is incompatible with contemporary democracy and freedom of speech, where you must be ready to put up with insults, mockery and ridicule&We are on our way to a slippery slope where no-one can tell how the self-censorship will end.
The organisation, Reporters Without Borders, said the reaction in the Arab world betrays a lack of understanding of press freedom as an essential accomplishment of democracy.
Major newspapers in the USA and the United Kingdom covered the story, but almost unanimously took a stance against re-publication of the Muhammad caricature.
Although most of the reproductions of the caricatures were in continental Europe, some newspapers in Muslim countries including Malaysia also carried the cartoons for different reasons. Invariably, almost all were whacked with the big stick by either their owners or governments.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Najib Razak justified the actions by saying: The government wants appropriate respect to be accorded to all religions and the people must be sensitive and aware of this&We need to enforce tough measures to prevent such articles from creating social unrest. (Feb 19, Bernama)
The Danish freedom of expression is combative, even by Western standards. Despite official German protests, Denmark has for long been a haven for printing of neo-nazi propaganda. Reporters Without Borders ranks Denmark on the top of its list of freedom of speech.
Jesus and other religious figures are often portrayed in Denmark in ways that many other societies would consider illegal blasphemy. In 1984 the artist Jens Jørgen Thorsen was commissioned by a local art club to paint the wall of a railway station. The work displayed a naked Jesus with an erect penis.
Three years ago, Jyllands-Posten, turned down unsolicited cartoons of Christ, on the grounds that they could be offensive to readers and were not funny.
A 2004 report by the European Network Against Racism, an NGO funded partly by the European Commission, concluded that the Danish media devoted an excessive proportion of their time to the problems posed by immigrants, and most often Islamic immigrants, while often ignoring the problems that these immigrants face. They hold newspapers such as Jyllands-Posten to blame for the rise of the anti-immigrant right-wing in Danish politics. Jyllands-Posten is Denmarks largest-selling daily newspaper.
Denmark is not alone in its irreverence of things sacred. Post-modernist tendencies are often intolerable of religious sensitivities. We have become accustomed to a culture of resorting to profane, obscene, false and blasphemous devices as intellectual and artistic benchmarks.
A case in point is the current best selling Da Vinci Code fiction written by American author Dan Brown. He raises the absurd idea that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, that he had children.
In 1988, the protests against The Last Temptation (of Christ) were unprecedented. Major religious leaders in the United States had condemned it as pornographic.
Piss Christ, a controversial photograph by American photographer Andres Serrano which depicts a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artists urine was a winner of an arts award in 1989 sponsored in part by the United States National Endowment for the Arts.
In some Muslim circles, the reactions against perceived blasphemy can be more severe. In 1989, Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie was sentenced to by Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini for Rushdies depiction of Muhammad his novel The Satanic Verses.
In 2004, Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh produced a film about violence against women in Islamic societies. Quranic verses allegedly unfavourable to women in Arabic are painted on the bodies of four abused naked women. Van Gogh was stabbed and shot dead on November 2, 2004, in Amsterdam by Mohammed Bouyeri.
John Piper, Christian author and minister, reminds us that the work of Christ is based on being insulted. This produces very different reactions to mockery. Already in the Psalms the path of mockery was promised: All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads (Psalm 22:7).
When it actually happened it was worse than expected They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. . . . And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit on him (Matthew 27:2830).
For Christ, enduring the mockery of the cross was the essence of his mission. And for a true follower of Christ enduring suffering patiently for the glory of Christ is the essence of obedience, according to Piper. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account (Matthew 5:11).
He says the caricature and mockery of Christ has continued to this day. How should his followers respond? On the one hand, we are grieved and angered.
On the other hand, we identify with Christ, and embrace his suffering, and rejoice in our afflictions, and say with the apostle Paul that vengeance belongs to the Lord.
Bob Teoh is a freelance faith-based writer. He was formerly secretary general of both the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists and the National Union of Journalists Malaysia.
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