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US fundamentalist news service publishes cartoons of Muhammed

-07/02/06

An American distributor of religious press releases has flown in the face of other Christian calls for sensitivity and published the caricatures of Muhammad which have sparked violent protests in the Muslim world.

On its Web site, Christian Newswire has posted the cartoons that first appeared in a Danish newspaper, including one of an angry Muhammad with a fuse-lit bomb in his turban, and another of Muhammad on a cloud telling newly arrived suicide bombers, “Stop Stop, We have run out of virgins!”

Islamic tradition forbids any depiction of the religion’s holiest figure.

Amongst those who have urged sensitivity are members of Christian peacemaker teams, whose colleagues were abducted in November in Iraq.

Christian Newswire is paid to distribute news releases mainly by conservative and fundamentalist groups.

Its director Gary McCullough says however that on this occasion nobody paid for the Web posting, and his company isn’t “speaking on behalf of the Christian faith.”

But McCullough said he was concerned that some American media are censoring themselves in the face of “terroristic threats,” and he wants to stand with those who won’t be intimidated.

It comes however as other Christians around the world urge sensitivity and have even condemned the publication of the pictures.

Dr. Elizabeth Harris, Methodist Secretary for Inter-Faith Relations in the UK said: ìIn the light of the current controversy over the publication of cartoons depicting the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the Methodist Church affirms that freedom of speech and responsibility depend on one another in a democratic society. The right to speak freely cannot be separated from the responsibility to draw back from causing deliberate provocation or offence.

ìWe affirm that dialogue and respectful debate are the best way forward. We would call for restraint and dignity on the part of both Muslims and Christians.”

Christian Peacemakers, four of whom have been abducted in Iraq, also condemned the publication of the pictures as spreading hate and bigotry.


Related Searches(UK visitors only)

Christian Newswire

Islam
Methodist Church
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Muslim photographs
US Fundamentalism

US fundamentalist news service publishes cartoons of Muhammed

-07/02/06

An American distributor of religious press releases has flown in the face of other Christian calls for sensitivity and published the caricatures of Muhammad which have sparked violent protests in the Muslim world.

On its Web site, Christian Newswire has posted the cartoons that first appeared in a Danish newspaper, including one of an angry Muhammad with a fuse-lit bomb in his turban, and another of Muhammad on a cloud telling newly arrived suicide bombers, “Stop Stop, We have run out of virgins!”

Islamic tradition forbids any depiction of the religion’s holiest figure.

Amongst those who have urged sensitivity are members of Christian peacemaker teams, whose colleagues were abducted in November in Iraq.

Christian Newswire is paid to distribute news releases mainly by conservative and fundamentalist groups.

Its director Gary McCullough says however that on this occasion nobody paid for the Web posting, and his company isn’t “speaking on behalf of the Christian faith.”

But McCullough said he was concerned that some American media are censoring themselves in the face of “terroristic threats,” and he wants to stand with those who won’t be intimidated.

It comes however as other Christians around the world urge sensitivity and have even condemned the publication of the pictures.

Dr. Elizabeth Harris, Methodist Secretary for Inter-Faith Relations in the UK said: ìIn the light of the current controversy over the publication of cartoons depicting the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the Methodist Church affirms that freedom of speech and responsibility depend on one another in a democratic society. The right to speak freely cannot be separated from the responsibility to draw back from causing deliberate provocation or offence.

ìWe affirm that dialogue and respectful debate are the best way forward. We would call for restraint and dignity on the part of both Muslims and Christians.”

Christian Peacemakers, four of whom have been abducted in Iraq, also condemned the publication of the pictures as spreading hate and bigotry.