http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2012/sep/19/anti-islam-film-protests?intcmp=239

Muslims have made themselves a laughing stock by acting like this - what about ignoring it with disdainful dignity instead?

I suppose many Americans were grievously offended by Muslims taking down the American flag outside their embassy and replacing it with an Islamic one on September 11th. But guess what, they sucked it up and didn't riot.

I expect a lot of Christians are grievously offended when Muslims tell them that the New Testament is corrupt, but points towards Mohammed, that Jesus isn't the son of God and was never crucified. But guess what, they suck it up and don't riot.

I expect a lot of Hindus are grievously offended when Muslims tell them they are pagan Satanists because they are polytheists. But guess what...

I expect that many women are grievousy offended when Muslims tell them they can't be respected if they are visible, that they should be governed and by men and that marital rape doesn't exist (I could go on). But guess what...

I expect that many homosexuals are grievously offended when Muslims say they should never have sex or they will be punished in ways ranging from flogging to execution. But guess what...

I expect many atheists are grievously offended when they are told by Muslims that they are dumb cattle and that they will burn in hell for all eternity, and that some Muslims will find it highly amusing. But guess what...

I expect many Buddhists were grievously offended when Muslims destroyed their holy shrines. But guess what...

I expect many Jews are grievously offended by having a mosque on their holiest site, are referred to as monkeys and are blamed for a film made by an Egyptian. But you guessed it, they don't riot.
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We should protest and freak out for them stoning women and not caring about human rights!

This is insane and just too much. They want to start WWIII because of a silly youtube video.

Nobody would've cared about this bad production, and now it made history! Well done!

I could only watch it for a few seconds it was that bad.
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No matter how insulted you are, there's NO reason to hurt and kill innocent people out of rage!

It's almost as if they are insecure about themselves...why can't they stand above all of this?

We'll all end up in hell anyway, in their eyes.

I thank god every day for making ma an atheist!
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There are about 1.5 billion people alive today who have been born into Islam - about five times the population of the USA, and not much less than a quarter of the population of the world. Let's say about 1 billion of them are of "protesting" age.

The number of protesters is in its thousands. Their actions have been hysterical and appalling of course, but let's have some perspective here.
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You refer to what Muslim leaders should do. The protests were NOT organised by the leaders. They were either spontaneous or organised by fanatics and extremists. Riot policemen lost their lives in Khartoum to protect the US embassy .The official statements in the Sudan and Egypt(for example) asked people to resort to the law .

Freedom of expression in Western democracies is limited in 3 ways

1- Self censorship

2- Ownership.:When a certain British newspaoer changed hand last year its line on certain foreign policy matters changed 100%

3-Finance. The BBC is held in high esteem abroad because its reliance on license fee makes it less vulnerable to pressure groups or financiers..The Leveson enquiry has been told how R. Murdoch (after controlling The Times)interferred even in editorials.

Moreover , those of us who try to express a moderate point of view know from experience that they can do so now ONLY in the Guardian.
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The law CAN be resorted to ,if the political will is there.In the USA the Fighting Words Doctrine of 1942 is based on a supreme Court ruling that considered the seriousness of "insulting or fighting words" which "by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace."

Holocaust deniers are quite rightly silenced.I have visited a concentration camp and met a survivor.The Nazi prejudice was both religious and racist. To their credit Pentagon leaders recently put an end to a course in a military academy that discussed wiping out Mecca !
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The demonstrations against this film, though widespread, have been tiny compared to the massive pro-democracy demonstrations going on for two years now across the Arab world.
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There seems to be a widespread misubderstanding ,even among the "experts".The Anti-Islam film was the trigger for a host of pent up grievances.In other words,the protests were not exclusively about the film.They were an expression of frustration in the face of many acts of prejudice ;including Abu Ghraib ,Guantanamo bay, urination on Afghan corpses and condoning the Israeli far- right's humiliation of the Palestinians.A relevant factor is the existence within Western democracies of precedents-based on law- of restrictions that limit expression of racist,holocaust denying or outrageous invasion of privacy of royalty.
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Muslims can blaspheme against Islam, it is completely I possible for non-Muslims to do so.
Muslims should not depict their Prophet. Non-Muslims can do.
Muslims should not insult Mohammed. Non-Muslims are under no such obligation.
Muslim protesters would make Muslims of us all.
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That movie was created in bad taste by a warped mind. Freedom of expression comes with responsibility and sensitivity to others' feelings. I know how Americans reacted when 9/11 happened. Every male with a beard, brown skinned, sometimes Sikhs were looked at with suspicion, whisked away for interrogation, taken out of planes, in one case shot and killed by an irate and ignorant man. People do not realize how emotions affect people.

You are right about the movie being in bad taste, and also right that post 9/11 many 'brown skinned' people living peacefull lives in the US, suffered from suspician and abuse, and many others suffered and died in the illegal invasions that followed.

But I hope you are not comparing the hijacking of planes to crash into a huge city and killing thousands, with the making of a crap, home-made film..?

One affects peoples sensitivities, the other kills them. I really hope it wasn't your intention to compare..:
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Agreed I watched it - looked like some sort of silly film made by uni students on speed. muslims let themselves down by over reacting to something so daft and frankly not worth all the effort. They have made themselves a laughing stock by acting like this - what about ignoring it with disdainful dignity instead?

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