In the cast of characters from the Danish Motoon controversy, the name Kåre Bluitgen is not as well known as that of Kurt Westergaard (one of the cartoonists), Flemming Rose (editor of the newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which published the cartoons), or Anders Fogh Rasmussen (the Danish prime minister, who displayed a spine of tempered steel in the face of Islamist threats). But Mr. Bluitgen is the man who started it all.He had written a children’s book about the life of Mohammed, and was having trouble finding an illustrator for it. Danish artists were mindful of Theo Van Gogh and Salman Rushdie, and were reluctant to touch Islam with a ten-foot pole.
And with good reason. Jyllands-Posten solicited cartoons of Mohammed from Danish artists, and published twelve by artists willing to participate. The resulting violence has left a number of people dead, and forced the cartoonists into hiding.
Well, somehow Mr. Bluitgen found an illustrator, and his book was eventually published. Unfortunately, not all Danish schoolchildren will be able to read it. According to last Thursday’s Ekstra Bladet (kindly translated by reader Zonka):
Several school libraries will not let the students borrow the most talked-about book this year — Kåre Bluitgen’s The Qu’ran and the Life of the Prophet Muhammed (Koranen og profeten Muhammeds liv).
The Danish daily Kristeligt Dagblad today reports that several Danish school libraries are keeping Kåre Bluitgen’s book about Mohammed off the shelves and away from the school kids.The book that inspired Jyllands-Posten to print the Mohammed cartoons has sold more than 7000 copies since it was printed in January, and has had good reviews, even in the school libraries’ own newsletter, which described it as “a gift to all school libraries both for Muslim children and the rest of us”.
Still, many school libraries are hesitating to put the book on the shelves, and in other places it is kept away entirely. At the school “Parkskolen” in Struer, where the book has been bought, it is only for the teachers’ library, says Kristeligt Dagblad.
Not Censorship
“It is not because of the Mohammed controversy, or that we want to exercise censorship, but it is a very violent book, and if it is read without conversation with an adult, it will give a wrong impression of Islam, not the least the Muslims’ view on other religions. Therefore we have chosen to let the book be for the teachers, who then can use parts of it in the classes.” says school librarian Søren Langkjær, who hasn’t chosen to leave the Bible off the shelves!
“Yes, the Old Testament contains a lot of tough stories as well, but I don’t think that it will be read as an image of the religion in the same way as it would in the Mohammed Book.” says Søren Langkjær.
Hellig Kors Skolen on Nørrebro in Copenhagen has not yet bought the book, and don’t expect to make it available for the school’s students either, where 80% are immigrants.
Kåre Bluitgen himself, finds it hard to understand the libraries.
“If there is anything wrong with the book it is rather that it is not critical enough about Mohammed, since I have only used the traditional Muslim sources. And when you see that the libraries have no problem with the Bible, it seems like a misplaced consideration for Islam.” says Kåre Bluitgen.
Make a note of this explanation: It is not because of the Mohammed controversy, or that we want to exercise censorship, but it is a very violent book.
But how could that be true, when it is based on the scriptures of the Religion of Peace?
6 comments:
"... it will give a wrong impression of Islam, not the least the Muslims’ view on other religions."
The wrong impression? Look, can't we just come to a shared, studied conclusion about Islam?
Is it true that many of the Christian-sounding verses are abrogated by later, egotistical and violent verses?
Is it true that Muhammed ordered beheadings and thievery against the Quaraiza and defended this on the grounds that it is not acceptable for folks to have a religion other than Islam or to have anything but high respect for Muhammed?
Is it true that Muhammed sometimes supported the killing of folks who made fun of him (though he spared others)?
Is it true that that non-Muslims under Muslim rule often lived in insecurity and many times were not allowed to live at all? (For example, are the number of Hindu dead between 1000 and 1500 really something like 80 million?) Is it likely that years of taquiyya (deception) has kept us from knowing the extent of the horror; and that this taquiyya continues today?
Is it true that Mohammed in his 50s penetrated a 9-year-old girl?
Islam claims something that Muslims want to believe: that the word of God was dictated to a man and that followers of that man are to dominate non-followers.
Couldn't all non-Muslims agree that Islam is primarily a political system and is a social evil? Why is that so hard to see?
I don't rant like this, usually, but folks are just ridiculous in their wish to show respect for what is worthy only of fear.
The Mohammed Cartoon affair became a trade advantage for Denmark.
The turbulence in the wake of the publication of the Mohammed cartoons did not harm Denmarks export - probably quite the opposite, says Joergen Tulstrup,senior researcher at Danish Institute for Economic Analysis.
The relatively unsignificant setback noticed in Arabic countries is by far outweighed by our reputation in important markets around the world Joergen Tulstrup writes in ToDay - The Danish Industy's Daily.
That fact is reflected in the high expectations for growing employment in the industry - higher than at any previous time during the past four years, the analysis shows.
http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2006/06/12/040350.htm
"Therefore we have chosen to let the book be for the teachers, who then can use parts of it in the classes.”
Correction:
. . . for the teachers, who then can airbrush parts of it that offend their politically correct multicultural sensibilities.
"Ask yourself why." Didn't Attaturk perceive that prosperity would not be possible unless Islam (a political system) was separated from politics?
The reason for the backwardness and poverty in Muslim countries is a culture that is incompatible with progress: a culture of fatalism, violence, and an unwillingness to accept the enlightment freedoms (speech, press, religion) that support scientific inquiry.
On a personal level and for a whole country: If you rid yourself of this "religion" and take another, good changes will occur. And if you live in the West, you can free yourself without being killed for your wisdom.
Think about it, please. We would both be better off.
ik -- no problem w/OT.
Thanks for all the links; I will save them & look into them when I have time.
Talking about Kaare Bluitgen 's book; don't forget to have a look at the drawings from this book.
Bluitgen could not find any artists who would illustrate his book under their real name, which was the reason why Jyllands Posten published the famous Muhammed Cartoons.
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