Danish Cartoons...

Colleen Doran links to a very interesting rebuttal against a 60 Minutes piece on Denmark. It sounds like 60 Minutes didn't bother to fact-check their piece, and if you were unfortunate enough to see it, you really need to read the rebuttal. Here are some quotes from the rebuttal article:

Contrary to what we were told, Jyllandsposten, the Danish paper that published the cartoons, has actually printed cartoons of Jesus Christ too, and yes, they have also rejected some.

A major slam against Jyllandsposten has been that they refused to print cartoons mocking Jesus. Apparently they have done so, just not the particular cartoons their critics are thinking about. Hrm.

Both national and international polls, as documented in a 1999 survey by the European Values Study of 31 European countries, show that Danes have some of the least xenophobic attitudes among European countries. A poll by the analysis bureau, Catinet Research, showed that more than 66 percent of immigrants feel well integrated into the Danish society. More immigrants than ever are seeking entry to Denmark.

This I tend to believe. As I've mentioned before, I had a friend who spent some time in Denmark and was there during 9/11. He loved the country and found it to be a very open-minded place.

Going a little further, 60 minutes apparently talked with a competing newspaper's editor, Toger Seidenfaden, to get their "facts" about the cartoons:

In the TV story, he gets away with saying "They (Jyllandsposten) explained on their front page that they were doing this, and I quote, "To teach religious Muslims in Denmark that in our society, they must accept to be scorned, mocked and ridiculed." He is committing one of journalism's worst sins, misquoting a source.

This is what Jyllandsposten wrote on its front page: "The modern, secular society is being rejected by some Muslims. They demand an exceptional position when they insist on special consideration for their religious feelings. This is incompatible with a secular democracy and freedom of expression where one must be ready to take scorn, mockery and ridicule." One may agree or disagrees with that view, but it definitely is not what Seidenfaden said.

See the differences between what was really written by Jyllandsposten and what the competing newspaper editor claimed they wrote? It is a subtle difference, I admit, but one is an attack, the other is just a point about freedom of speech.

When I first read the actual opening, I was bothered by something that I couldn't put my finger on. It took me awhile... but I now recognize it. The Jyllandsposten is using the old canard about "special rights" versus "equal rights" to claim that the Muslims are getting/demanding unequal and preferential treatment. It is troubling that a concept that has been used by radical conservatives in the United States as a reason to deny gays equal rights under the law is appearing elsewhere in such a context. Of course, by publishing the cartoons, Jyllandsposten proved that Muslims are not getting "special rights" under the law. They are trying to get "special rights" by threatening to murder anyone who doesn't give them such rights.

I still have mixed feelings about this whole insane affair. I don't think it was respectful to print the cartoons, and I'm not sure printing them was necessary to get the point across. On the other hand, look at the amazing discourse that has come about from the publication, and the re-examination of free speech and what it means. And look at how some Muslims are proving the stereotypes in the cartoons with utterly inapropriate violence and, yes, demands that their religion be exempt from the darker side of free speech.

I also think there is a lot to this story that the West isn't hearing... the three extra "cartoons" and the determination of the Danish Imams to stir up hatred against the Danes, for instance. The long delay between the first publication of the cartoons and the riots and violence makes the whole thing stink like a set-up. There's more to this story that we haven't yet heard. I wonder if we ever will hear the end of it.

Back to the rebuttal article, the final paragraphs really do a good job of summing up the entire Danish attitude about this, using the tale of The Emperor's New Clothes. In this, I applaud the Danes:

[W]e don't care much about "The Authority" and speak our mind when we are faced with dogma, fakery or doctrinaire thinking whether we deal with royalty, governments or some other hierarchies.