The killing of journalists in Paris on Wednesday was not only an attack on France but also an assault on Islam and the very freedoms that allow 30 million Muslims to prosper in the west.
Free speech is not a western concept: it is a universal craving of the human soul. The gunmen ran away shouting that they were “avenging the prophet Muhammad”. How dare they? We cannot let the murderers define Islam.
In seventh-century Mecca, it was the prophet Muhammad who fought for free speech to proclaim one God as the creator of life and worthy of worship. The city’s pagans were his violent persecutors.
[TOP RATED COMMENT 1164 votes] Sorry but all religion is bollocks, bleating on about some 6th century desert warrior's compassion at this time is rather insensitive.
[SECOND 1069] Asked about attitudes towards free speech .... 78% of Muslims thought that the publishers of the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed should be prosecuted, 68% thought those who insulted Islam should be prosecuted .... See here
Seems like quite a few Muslims don't agree with freedom of speech to be honest.
[THIRD 869] Don't tell us. Tell the Muslims. Do it now!
[FOURTH 675] "In sixth-century Mecca, it was the prophet Muhammad who fought for free speech to proclaim one God as the creator of life and worthy of worship."
Didnt he actively suppress pagan worship and decree apostasy a capital offence?
[FIFTH 615] That's three articles on the trot , this one, Simon Jenkins and Suzanne Moore telling us what WE must do or not do.
How about an article telling them, namely the religion of peace, what THEY must do?
[SIXTH 494] "In sixth-century Mecca, it was the prophet Muhammad who fought for free speech to proclaim one God as the creator of life and worthy of worship. The city’s pagans were his violent persecutors."
And then he expelled or killed all of the non-believers and all non-Muslims have been banned from Mecca ever since. That's free speech?
[SEVENTH 454] I started to read the koran a few years ago and it reads like an angry rant. Not compassionate or caring. I stopped in disbelief that people live and die by this bollocks. [7 Jan. Guardian Cif, Ed Husain, 253 comments] Read more
