Pengikut agama najis Islam itu tidak punya tradisi untuk mempertanyakan ajaran 
agama najis itu dengan kejujuran...

Beda dengan pengikut agama Nasrani yang sudah sejak lama berani mempertanyakan 
apa yang tertulis dikitab suci mereka.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19632673


BBC News Middle East
21 September 2012 Last updated at 11:21 GMT
Viewpoints: Anti-Islam film and self-censorship
Comments (816)

The appearance on YouTube of an anti-Islam film produced in the US has sparked 
protests and attacks across parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, in which 
more than 28 people have died.

The furore has prompted debate about balancing freedom of speech with freedom 
of religion.

Should self-censorship and regulation be imposed in order to appease the 
sensitivities of religious groups?

A selection of analysts give their views:
Ed Husain, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies, US Council on Foreign 
Relations, and author of The Islamist.

I am a Muslim. I am a Westerner. I see no contradictions in being both.

We reached this stage of our history by ending the control of the Catholic 
Church on what could and could not be said or written in public. So-called 
heretics were killed at the stake to help secure freedom of religion, thought, 
and expression. These freedoms are sacrosanct to me.

It is this history of Christian Protestant bravery that led to the creation of 
pluralist and secular societies in the West, allowing for the first time in 
history for Muslims and Jews to settle there in large numbers - we were free to 
practise our religions freely. The barbarity of pogroms, witch-hunting, and 
burning heretics ended.

My fellow Muslims must understand this background. We cannot trample on the 
very freedoms that allow us to thrive as Muslims. Yes, it hurts when the 
Prophet is insulted. From Shakespeare to Thomas Paine, Western literature is 
full of negative references to Muslims as Moors, Turks, and followers of 
Mahomet.

Similarly, classical Arabic and Persian writings are replete with anti-Semitism 
and denial of Christ's divinity as the son of God. Yet, it is a remarkable feat 
that we in the West have accommodated all faiths and no faith.

This achievement cannot be reversed. Self-censorship is to reverse the gains 
made by our intellectual forefathers.

Just as Muslims are free in the West, Christians and other dissenters must be 
free in the East.

We Muslims killed some of our best luminaries because of clerical accusations 
of heresy, absence of freedom of thought.

>From executing al-Hallaj in Baghdad to stoning Ibn Arabi in Damascus to 
>banishing Bulleh Shah in the Punjab, the history is bitter.

They were Muslim martyrs to freedom of thought. As a Westerner and Muslim, I 
want to cherish these freedoms and secure liberty for future generations.

Ed Husain can be followed on Twitter: @ed_husain
Jane Kinninmont, senior research fellow, Chatham House

The protests in many Muslim countries are only partly about the Innocence of 
Muslims film. They have highlighted the readiness of millions of people to 
blame Western governments for a supposed anti-Islam agenda, with little regard 
for whether there were in fact any links between those governments and a poorly 
produced video circulated on YouTube.

Western diplomats and governments need to be sensitive to the potential for 
offending others - but they can't be held responsible for policing the Internet 
for any potentially offensive materials, whether these deal with religious 
sensitivities, racism or other controversial topics.

This is not just about freedom of speech, but the realities of technology. Even 
in authoritarian countries censorship is growing harder to enforce.

And although self-censorship is actually already taking place - artists, 
writers and comedians in the West are often more careful what they say about 
Islam than about Christianity (though sometimes for bad reasons, like fear) - 
this doesn't rule out the possibility of a minority view being blown out of all 
proportion.

Nonetheless, Western governments need to ask themselves why so many people are 
ready to believe in supposed conspiracies against Islam, especially after 10 
years of the "war on terror", and why it is so easy to get crowds to attack US 
embassies.

Certainly, anti-American protests are often a safe way to vent a variety of 
grievances, including local ones, and they're often exploited by groups with 
other agendas. For instance, some Yemeni activists argue security forces were 
happy to see the US embassy there attacked, in order to send a message to the 
US about the possible dangers of giving Yemenis political freedom.

But in the Middle East, the legacy of colonialism is still keenly felt, the 
Iraq war remains a source of widespread anger, and the US is widely held to be 
hypocritical for working closely with authoritarian Arab rulers while styling 
itself as a force for democracy in the world.

Given the extent of ties between the US and the former government of Hosni 
Mubarak, it could be argued that the West is lucky that the Egyptian uprising 
was not more anti-American to begin with.

Jane Kinninmont can be followed on Twitter: @janekinninmont
Malise Ruthven, author, Islam in the World and Fundamentalism - A Very Short 
Introduction

Even if we discount the political opportunism of militants such as the killers 
of the US ambassador to Libya, Salafists in Cairo, Hezbollah activists in 
Lebanon and Taliban supporters in Kabul - all of them using the film to 
mobilise support against governments perceived as pro-Western, or pro-American 
- the fact remains that there is huge populist mileage in defending the 
aniconic (non-representational) image of the Prophet Muhammad, an image that 
has been programmed into the collective Muslim consciousness for more than 14 
centuries.

There is, however, a crucial difference between being seen to trash that image 
publicly - as in the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad first published in 
Denmark in 2005 and the most recent YouTube clip - and the deconstruction of 
that image using the tools of modern scholarship.

Historian Tom Holland's book and TV programme questioning the historicity of 
the Arabian Prophet drew protests from some Islamic scholars, but did not 
generate riots from Benghazi to Kabul.

These different responses suggest that there needs to be a two-pronged approach 
to the free speech issues raised by these epic furores. "Insulting" the Prophet 
should be categorised as a form of "hate-speech" comparable to racism or 
Holocaust denial, as forbidden in many European countries, because the sacred 
image of the Prophet is a constituent element of the Muslim communal identity.

But challenging the myths underpinning that collective psyche is another story 
- it is something that critics of other faiths have been engaged on since the 
Enlightenment in the 18th Century.

It would be utterly wrong for the law to discriminate in favour of Muslims by 
insulating them from this process, because critical engagement - about science, 
religion and politics - is a necessary precondition for human flourishing in 
the contemporary globalised world.
Abraham Foxman, US National Director of the Anti-Defamation League

There are three issues at stake in dealing with the reaction to the anti-Islam 
film: First and most important is the culture of religious intolerance among 
extremist Muslims expressed through hate speech and violence.

While the Egyptian and Libyan incidents focused attention on the anger against 
the West, the vast majority of the violence on religious themes is directed at 
fellow Muslims - Sunnis v Shiites and vice-versa - with no regard for religious 
sensibilities: attacks against mosques and on religious holidays.

The focus, therefore, needs first to be on the violence resulting from this 
culture of religious intolerance, of which anti-Western rage is just one 
manifestation.

Second, there needs to be in the United States more emphasis on education, 
teaching respect for those whose religious beliefs are different.

In particular, a distinction must be drawn between the bad actions of extremist 
Muslims and the values of the religion of Islam itself.

Finally, freedom of expression is one of the central pillars of American 
democracy.

Political and civic leaders must continue to denounce manifestations of 
anti-Muslim attitudes, as was done in the case of the recent outrageous film.

But the right to express one's mind, even when offensive, is not only 
constitutionally protected, but is at the heart of our democracy.

We must continue to defend that freedom while firmly rejecting extremist views.
Jillian York, director of International Freedom of Expression, Electronic 
Frontier Foundation

When speech leads to violence, even indirectly, it becomes all too tempting to 
suggest that self-censorship is a smart idea.

We live in a globalised world, where what someone says in New York matters in 
Cairo and vice versa, making it easy to suggest an extra layer of caution and 
sensitivity toward embattled minority groups.

Nevertheless, such suggestions create a slippery slope toward greater 
censorship - one day the request might be to avoid insulting a prophet, the 
next it might be to avoid insulting a dictator.

No single group should be treated differently from another.

This phenomenon already occurs in parts of Europe, where Holocaust-denial is 
criminalised, leading other groups to demand similar restrictions.

In the United States, where the Innocence of Muslims video originated, hate 
speech is not a crime.

Though this openness toward free expression allows for the expression of truly 
odious views, it also ensures that those views are given sunlight, exposed for 
the public to criticise and denounce.

Ultimately, the best response to hateful speech is more speech and more debate. 
It is the only way to a truly pluralistic society.

Jillian York can be followed on Twitter: @jilliancyork
Elmar Brok, German member of European Parliament and chairman of the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs

The film, which is denouncing and insulting the Prophet Muhammad, is wrong, and 
to be frank, repulsive.

I believe that "freedom of opinion" ends at the point where people intend to 
provoke hatred between nations and religions under the cover of this principle.

But at the same time I cannot accept the violence that we have witnessed. 
Violence and bloodshed are never acceptable.

Europe is proud about the freedom of speech, the freedom of opinion and the 
freedom of religion, which we have anchored in the constitutions of our 
countries, the Treaty of Lisbon and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

But not everything that is allowed should be done. We all also know it will not 
be possible to completely stop such nasty material from being made public in 
the age of the Internet.

We have to work on reducing religious prejudice and resentment - this can only 
be done via education, and via role models.

Reducing prejudices and increasing tolerance needs to be done in both worlds - 
the Western world and the Arab world. The Christian minorities must feel safe 
and welcomed in Arab countries the same way that Muslim people must feel safe 
and welcomed in predominantly Christian countries.

We will not have peace in the world until we have peace between religions.
Your comments (816)
Comments

This entry is now closed for comments
Jump to comments pagination

    All Comments (816)

        Order by:
        Latest First
        Highest Rated
        Lowest Rated
    Comment number 816.
    Robbie
    20th September 2012 - 17:55

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house 
rules. Explain.

    Comment number 815.
    Naeem
    20th September 2012 - 20:49

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house 
rules. Explain.

    Comment number 814.
    Joseph_F
    20th September 2012 - 20:34

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house 
rules. Explain.

    Comment number 813.
    krokodil
    20th September 2012 - 20:19

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house 
rules. Explain.

    Comment number 812.
    Hal 2001
    20th September 2012 - 20:15

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house 
rules. Explain.

Comments 5 of 816

    Show more

Sign in with your BBC iD, or Register to comment and rate comments

All posts are pre-moderated and must obey the house rules.
More Middle East stories

    US President Barack Obama addresses the 67th United Nations General 
Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, 25 September 2012Obama condemns 
global extremism

    US President Barack Obama condemns violence and extremism as he addresses 
the UN General Assembly in New York.
    Syria child trauma 'appalling'
    Egypt paper in cartoon campaign

BBC

BBC © 2012 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read 
more.





------------------------------------

Post message: [email protected]
Subscribe   :  [email protected]
Unsubscribe :  [email protected]
List owner  :  [email protected]
Homepage    :  http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    [email protected] 
    [email protected]

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    [email protected]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Kirim email ke