Thanks to Facebook fame, May 20 is the pseudo-official "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day". We can officially add this "holiday" as one more odd non-official holiday. The organizers and some supporters see this day as a way to spark worldwide debate. However, Everyone Draw Mohammed Day runs the risk of building more anger than understanding.
Source for this article: Everybody Draw Mohammed Day – Making a free speech point By Personal Money Store
The history behind Everyone Draw Mohammed Day
The essential questions that lie behind Everybody Draw Mohammed Day have been building for years. A tenant of the Muslim religion bans showing images of God or the prophet Mohammed. The beginning gun for this controversy really went off in 2005, when a newspaper printed twelve different images of the prophet. The creators of South Park have received multiple death threats after an episode was aired that satirizes the prohibition on showing Mohammed. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of lawsuits and a few hundred deaths have been blamed on the controversy and the surrounding riots. Numerous individuals are choosing to face these threats head-on, rather than getting instant cash to hire bodyguards.
The point of Everybody Draw Mohammed Day
An artist in the Northwest decided that Everybody Draw Mohammed Day would be a good way to spark debate. This "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" was created as a way to respond to the death threats against "South Park" creators. The informational page on Facebook for Everybody Draw Mohammed Day says the creators hope to "spark severe debate in international forums.”
Everybody Draw Mohammad Day – the effects
An incredibly wide variety of groups, organizations, and individuals have responded to Everyone Draw Mohammed Day. For a short amount of time, Facebook did block access to the website, though it was eventually restored. Free speech advocates are calling Everyone Draw Mohammed Day a way to exercise the right to free speech. Some religious tolerance groups are concerned that the “celebration” of the day could very effortlessly turn into mockery of all Muslims, not just the extremists that are the intended target. Some countries, including Pakistan, have wholly or partially blocked Facebook and YouTube.
What is your opinion? Is this "celebration" dangerous or offensive? Or is this a a lot more benign idea, expressing free speech?
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