Hat tip to Rhymes with Right.
Source: Former Dutch Labour Party politician Ehsan Jami, the founder of the Committee of ex-Muslims, has announced that he is producing an anti-Islamic cartoon called The Life of Muhammad. It will be released on the 20th of April. The film will show a sexually aroused Prophet Muhammad with his nine-year-old wife Aisha.
Members of the Dutch Muslim and government contact organisation, CMO, who have viewed a section of the film, say they will go to court in an attempt to have The Life of Muhammad banned. The organisation has described the film as totally unacceptable and extremely offensive.
Mr Jami, who announced last year that he was planning to make a film, had said that it would be shocking and even more controversial than the recent Danish cartoons of Muhammad.
In case you didn't know, the story of Aisha's marriage and consummation with Mohammad is supported by Islamic text.
"Narrated Hisham's father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then he married 'Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old." Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 236.
Once again, Muslims respond to criticism with violence.
Jami set up a committee last September that aims to encourage leaving Islam and protect apostate Muslims. Shortly before the launch, he was attacked by Muslims in his home town of Leidschendam, where he was a local councillor for the Labour (PvdA) party. In October, PvdA terminated his party membership because his opinions were too radical for it.
And censorship, and lawsuits.
The Muslims and Government Contact Body (CMO) has immediately announced it wants to bar the cartoon film via the courts. CMO is the government's official consultation partner on integration policy. CMO board member Ayhan Tonca, said on Netwerk that Jami's film will undoubtedly spark furious reactions in the Muslim world.
Ah yes, we're quite familiar with "furious reactions" from the Islamic community. Whether it's Theo Van Gogh or Salmon Rushdie, open debate is trumped by violence. The fear of violence leads to censorship, sometimes even self-censorship, thus rewarding the terrorists. After the threats or attacks have accomplished their purpose of establishing Islam as the only unassailable religion, the terrorists and their accomplices fall back into "the religion of peace" slogan, ready to begin the cycle again for the next offense to Islam.
Islam has had it both ways thus far, claiming to be peaceful while practicing jihad, while the press and frightened companies like Live Leak serve as enablers. The never-ending fear of criticism vs the fear of violence is no substitute for the free exchange of ideas. After all, great ideas need not fear honest debate. Islam should be treated no better than any other religion.
