The outrage over here at HUFFPO is deafening.

My local newspaper has printed editorial cartoons that made fun of:
Pedofile Priests
Gay Televangelists
Landgrabbing Jews
Celebrity Scientologists
Intolerant Baptists
Flower-wielding Moonies
and Know-it-all Athiest Authors.

They have even published catoons that poked fun of:
Afican Americans,
Women
Men
Mexicans,
Blah, blah blah...

Yet when it comes time for a cartoon that touches on the Islamic faith, they pull the cartoon and cite a need to tolerant and not offend our local population of Arab-Americans.

As Orwell wrote: All animals are Equal. Some Animals are more equal than others.

Somewhere, buried in our national documentation, there's supposed to be something on paper that separates church and state. This isn't really the case in some other countries, and some religious institutions have their hate on for america because of that, because when you've got a country run by the People instead of by the Church, you have a different system of authority. I like freedom of religion, as it also implies freedom FROM it, meaning that we do not, nor should we have, a church tax. However, BushCo, in their infinite wisdom, has basically passed one without a public vote to that effect by shoveling millions, if not billions of tax dollars at the Church, so now the christian righties have this unlimited budget thing to draw upon.

It bears remembering that once upon a time, even the Catholics took an anti-american stand, at the close of the US/Mexico war. They actively gave money to the country of Mexico during time of war. So, it kind of stands to reason that if the catholics have a recorded history of doing that kind of thing, odds are there might be a chance of other denominations doing likewise.

Speaking as a heathen-american, someone who attends no church(synagoge, insert name of religious facility here_________), I have grave doubts about the role of religion in society, and as a result of MY beliefs, I don't give these people any money, especially when they start warming up to topics like Crusades(reference Jimmy Swaggart and company, there), I start to be A Little Concerned. Other topics for reference include Jim Jones, David Koresh, the Moonies, for that matter the Scientologists, anyone who's got a belief system and a gleam in their eye and strong political ambitions, be afraid, be very afraid...and when Bush starts handing them your tax dollars, be concerned...

After World War II where some 50 million people died something called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written, and most everone signed up. A key right was the freedom of speech, the ability to critique, to critiuq everything and anything. Now these creepy newspaper editors are granting exemptions to critique
and acting as if the word UNIVRSAL should simply be dropped. That was not what the signatories to the declaration intended, and if these censors are going to not publish critiques they should at least publish in their place a verbatim copy of the original declaration and a list of the signatories.

Every minority, be it Baptist/Unitarian, Irish/Italian/Octogenarian/Zen Buddhist, Zionist/Seventh-day Adventist, Women's Lib/Republican, Mattachine/Four Square Gospel feels it has the will, the right, the duty to douse the kerosene, light the fuse.

Every dimwit editor who sees himself as the source of all dreary blanc-mange plain porridge unleavened literature, licks his guillotine and eyes the neck of any author who dares to speak above a whisper or write above a nursery rhyme.

Ray Bradbury, "Coda" 1979

If you don't get the joke that the cartoon is making-do you protest if your paper prints it or protest if your paper doesn't print it? What do you if you don't subscribe to any paper which has a comic section?

The Opus comic for tomorrow (August 26) is available here:

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/8650/opus82607su2.jpg

Everybody believes in censorship in one form or another.

Everybody.

The problem is not religion. After all, we've had plenty of cartoons, movies, etc., about flying nuns, wicked priests and all manner of religious figures.

The problem is that Islam is a political movement, not a religion.

Man, I didn't know Bloom County was still around! Our local paper doesn't carry it, too bad. I was a HUGE fan of Opus and the gang back when!

Wusses!

If those newspapers don't have the backbone to print two cartoons on Islam then why are they in business?

Those pussies.

Gotta Getta Burquini. Seriously.

Is this a prime example of Political Correctness? I may be slightly biased when I see Arabic or Muslims in public but maybe it's only because THEY WERE THE ONES flying the airplaines into buildings on 9-11-01???