Treat everybody the same

Submitted by Gabriel Grosso (Italy), Feb 9, 2006 at 18:31

Denmark and Norway are not religious societies and they must have been very surprised at the reaction to the cartoons. As a European, I am surprised.

Since we cannot joke about certain topics, we should apply the same standards to everyone. We cannot make cartoons about the Prophet, but we are allowed to do the same about Jesus. Even if you are not religious, you will notice the hypocrisy of this position.

Something has got to change here. We can make fun of the Bible, but not of other books. European cartoons have often targeted Catholics, Jews and Protestants. If we are not allowed to make fun of a particular religion, then we should not be allowed to make fun of any religion. Unless we take this view, we will live in a Europe where violent people obtain a better treatment than the non-violent ones. Those who use violence- whatever religion they belong to- should not be rewarded. If religions are all the same, then they are all worthy of respect. Multi-religious Europe must treat everybody the same.

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