Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Turban Bomb Meets the Modoggies

A Modoggie
 
Turban Bomb

Lars VilksLars Vilks, the Swedish artist behind the infamous Modoggies, paid a little visit to his cousins in Denmark.

Trykkefrihedsselskabet, the Free Press Society, convened tonight in Copenhagen to proclaim its solidarity with Mr. Vilks. To the great surprise of most of the participants, the artist himself was there as the guest of honor.

Steen was there with his camera, and has kindly given me permission to post these photos.

Kurt Westergaard and Lars VilksAlso present was Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist who drew the Turban Bomb Mohammed, the most well-known of the Motoons. He’s shown in the photo at right, with Lars Vilks standing on his left.

Naser Khader, the leader of the Democratic Muslims, was also there, as was Flemming Rose, the editor of Jyllands-Posten. Mr. Rose and his newspaper launched the Mohammed cartoon crisis in the fall of 2005 by publishing twelve cartoons of the Prophet.

Lars Vilks and Flemming RoseYou can see him at right, sitting with Lars Vilks.

Steen’s post is in Danish, so I can’t tell you much more about the meeting. One of my other Danish contacts was there, and sent this brief description:

Lars Vilks was relaxed and extremely funny. He made a lot of friends, too.

The secrecy was so tight, that I didn’t know ahead of time that he would be there. But it also meant that there was no TV, so there was no video report on the event.

Despite the humor and the festive nature of the occasion, it’s worth remembering that people are trying to kill these “blasphemers”. As the Danish blog Pundokraterne notes:
- - - - - - - - -
During the trial at the Courthouse in Odense one of four individuals accused of planning terror attacks in Denmark divulged that he and the three others, together or separately, had discussed and/or worked on several planned bomb attacks. One of the ideas discussed included the construction of a remote-controlled bomb that should have been directed against Rose. The bomb would be planted in a car that was supposed to be driven into Rose’s private home. (It has already been uncovered that “A.K.”, the particular member of the group who suggested the idea, had considered killing one of the cartoonists. He also wrote letters in praise of Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab Zarqawi and offered himself: “Revenge, revenge! I am the first volunteer! God is great!”)

Lars Vilks can be seen below, holding the Modoggie that got him into so much trouble, the one that was published in Nerikes Allehanda.

A Modoggie


Photos © Snaphanen/Sappho

For previous posts on Lars Vilks and the Roundabout Dogs, see the Modoggie Archives.

6 comments:

xlbrl said...

I'm very sorry to say I can not force myself to get inspired by the talent of Vilks or others like him or around him. They appear to be almost as emasculated as the multiculturalist. If this is all they've got to stand up with, the lights are going out for a reason.

Profitsbeard said...

xlbri-

It is not Vilks' "talent" that is the point, but his aim.

If a doodle can illuminate the madness of militant Mohammedism, damn the doodles and full speed ahead.

I just hope he has some Kevlar.

And a second passport.

He'll need it as the population shifts in his region, in the decades to come, and the Quislings outnumber the Resistance.

Christians survived their first few centuries of apartheid and torture and slaughter by drawing a little doodle of a fish to signal their brothers and sisters in belief. (ICHTHYS, or "fish" in Greek, was a code for "Jesus Christos, Son of God, Savior").

It wasn't their "talent", but their intent, that brought a culture of Love, and not torture, slavery and brutality, to the cruel Roman world.

Conservative Swede said...

Lars Vilks is indeed very talented at what he is doing, which is art. But if you do not understand his definition of art, you won't understand what he is doing, and you won't see his talent.

Xlbrl, you are not the one that is needed to be convinced. I'm not the least worried that Lars Vilks does not impress you, Lars Vilks has a huge impact here in Sweden an is probably already the most influential Swede of this decade.

This is how I always thought of politics in these times of change. It's not a matter of positioning yourself in the political landscape, more to the West or to the right. The whole landscape and world view is corrupt, eminently demonstrated by e.g. the Republican government in the U.S. It's not a matter of positioning but of overturning, the landscape has to be bulldozed and overturned. This requires true action not the passive and quiescent act of just positioning yourself in this corrupted mental landscape. "Hey, look at me I'm standing here to the right, that makes me having a likable sensible-looking attitude, right?"

Well, it's not a matter of positioning, it's a matter of overturning the whole landscape. If you are in a poisonous swap, the issue is not about positioning, it's about leaving the swamp altogether. Changing the theater, changing the script. And this is what Lars Vilks is doing.

blogagog said...

I think you've been had, my friend. That wasn't Lars Vilks, but a well known actor.

Baron Bodissey said...

By thunder, you've managed to suss out our agent! I must cable Moscow and let the comrades know that his cover has been blown...

xlbrl said...

Well, Profitsbeard and Swede, I have every desire you are right, and I mistake this style for passivity.
Rightly or wrongly, the Muslims will see this as confirmation the European is not serious, but it is only important what the European actually does with it.
I am admittedly only judging this subject through my understanding of the American Left, who adores and apes the European Left. To them, nothing is so invisible as an unpleasant truth.