It must, at times, be really hard
To be cartoonist Westergaard*.
To be a controversial Dane,
Targeted by religious insane.
Trying to live their normal life,
A normal man and normal wife,
But with a price put on his head—
A million bucks to see him dead.
His drawing was a mortal sin
(To those who need a thicker skin):
The Prophet (praise be unto him)
Portrayed in features rather grim,
With bomb in turban, fuse alight,
Offensive to a Muslim’s sight!
Since such an insult could not stand,
“The man must die.” the cold command.
Islam’s Qur’an, the central text,
Has poor cartoonists quite perplexed—
It calls for peace, or that’s the claim,
While breeding martyrs in its name.
But should one choose to illustrate
This problem, well, we know the fate:
The peaceful clerics draw a breath
And send the artist to his death.
Kurt Westergaard is still alive
His freedom, also, will survive—
He will not bow to terrorists
Although his name is on their lists;
He chooses still, by all accords,
To set his pen against their swords
To freely live, as best he can—
So, fuck Muhammad—Kurt’s the man!
*I have been corrected; my pronunciation of Westergaard is incorrect (thanks for nothing, ITN News!) My apologies!
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Specifically, a religiously-motivated terrorist tried to murder a cartoonist. God’s very own prophet is apparently so thin-skinned, a cartoon is offense enough to try to kill a 74 year old cartoonist.
I am paying closer attention to Denmark these days; Cuttleson will be heading there for a semester. I am so envious. I suppose, though, I will have to caution him against doodling images of Muhammad.
From the article:
Danish police have shot and wounded a man at the home of Kurt Westergaard, whose cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad sparked an international row.
Mr Westergaard was at home in Aarhus when a man broke in and threatened him. He pressed a panic button and police entered the house and shot the man.
Danish officials said the intruder was a 28-year-old Somali linked to the radical Islamist al-Shabab militia.
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DC – Thank you for writing this. I also wanted to let you know that I have sent the address to this spammer's blogger profile to Google, the cowardly bastard.
Where's the Cuttlet going? Or is that confidential? (would make sense.)
Sili–Yeah, I'm keeping it quiet, especially after engaging in blasphemy. But anyone with any advice for what to do/see in Denmark (assuming one is there for over 4 months), and to some extent during an excursion with friends over a couple of weeks through other parts of Europe, I'd love to pass it on!
Well, in four months he can see all it – thrice over. And still have time to spare for a beer. (That's what I'd've offered if he passed by here.)It depends what sorta stuff he likes. And when he's coming. Odense is worth about a day, I'd say. We do have some nice modern art.If he can take a week off outside of the main holiday season, Bornholm is worth a visit for sure. But do look into when it's the least busy – even if it's the nicest in Summer.
DC,Cuttleson might want to find out what he can about the Danish rescue of their Jews during WWII. (They saved over 7,000 Jews from the Nazi death camps.)http://isurvived.org/Denmark-Holocaust.html It 's a remarkably moving and inspiring episode of Danish history, and I'm sure they will have museums commemorating their accomplishment.
Bleh, I didn't mean to post that anonymously. I'm the same AnneH that posts, rarely, at Pharyngula.
I'd recommend a visit to Christiania, the freetown in Copenhagen. It's not the same as it used to be (since the police crackdown there's little open drug trade -and a lot more violence in the rest of the city) but it's still a lovely, interesting place.
I seem to have a somewhat different view of Christiania. I guess I have fascistoid tendencies. Cuttleson should do what he likes best, but I wouldn't encourage the freeloading bums.There's an 'Experimentarium' in Copenhagen – http://www.experimentarium.dk/ – with some fun hands-on science. Haven't been there for a loooong time, so I don't know if the Cuttlet feels too old for that.Embarrassingly, I don't know if we actually have a museum dedicated to the rescue of (most of) the Jews, but I think there's one for the 'Resistance' (haven't been there, but the subject is usually glorified to the point of exaggeration, so I'd be skeptical of any claims they make).There are museums of architecture as well – in the sense that they preserve old buildings and try to illustrate the ways of life in former times. Copenhagen and Odense have mostly hamlet/countryside stuff, while the more impressive city stuff is in Århus.