Don't ban it, EXPOSE it!

Submitted by g.woodworth (United States), Sep 16, 2007 at 17:43

Satire may sometimes be effective... in most cases. That is, in ordinary cases. But Islam is not ordinary. The Moslem's ultimate weapon is unfettered terror. How many other movements engage in riots, bombings, and beheadings?

You have already said that people in South Park "dared not poke fun for fear for their lives." And that is where Islam is different from "most cases". It does not hesitate to resort to extreme violence to get its way. We see publishers and even governments backing down and apologizing. They are groveling, basically! Groveling for having exercised their democratic rights to speak in their own homelands!

Therefore, satire is not really effective if people fear to use it. It also gives Moslems a sense of outraged persecution. It provides them with an excuse to riot and make threats, Why give them that?

Therefore, if satire does not work too well (with Islam) and puts people in danger, and if banning books is not the way to go either, then there is another course to follow: I would suggest giving the Koran the fullest possible exposure. Put quotations from the Koran up on billboards along the highways and in the cities. Don't distort a word. Quote exactly. Add no commentary. Show no disrespect. Surely, Moslems cannot object to that. They should be flattered at having verses from the Koran on public display.

The fact is that, without imams to explain it away (as being out of context, or mis-translated) the primitive desert mentality of the Koran cannot stand exposure to the light of day. Thus, it needs MORE exposure, not LESS. So post it on billboards 20 feet high. And then let people see and decide for themselves.

No satire is needed. Let the Koran speak for itself. It's own words will speak loudly enough. There is so much controversy about the Koran only because so few people have actually read it. The way is not to ban it, but to expose it.

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