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<blockquote data-quote="Dave70968" data-source="post: 1911251" data-attributes="member: 13624">I suspect he did intend a reaction; artists (don&#039;t quibble) generally do.&nbsp; Did he intend to get the specific reaction of murderous mobs?&nbsp; I doubt it.&nbsp; Bin Laden did intend to get people dead.Here&#039;s one for you: consider the infamous &quot;Piss Christ.&quot;&nbsp; Offensive, I&#039;ll grant you, but the most violent reaction it&#039;s gotten is that a copy of the photo got torn up, and I think another copy was vandalized with paint.&nbsp; Now, consider what would happen if somebody released &quot;Piss Mohammed.&quot;&nbsp; I can think of a perfectly valid artistic reason to do so: not to inflame the Muslims per se, but to cast a spotlight on the radical difference between the reactions to functionally similar pieces.&nbsp; Problems, mistakes, bad ideas don&#039;t get fixed if they&#039;re kept in the shadows; we need the disinfecting power of bright sunshine to cure them.This controversy has done an amazing job of turning the light on what some people think.&nbsp; There are actually calls from within this country to eviscerate the First Amendment in order to prevent people from getting butthurt.&nbsp; Frankly, I&#039;m glad to hear it: it lets me know, in no uncertain terms, who needs to be removed from office at the earliest opportunity.Starting a discussion should never be a hanging offense.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dave70968, post: 1911251, member: 13624"] I suspect he did intend a reaction; artists (don't quibble) generally do. Did he intend to get the specific reaction of murderous mobs? I doubt it. Bin Laden [I]did[/I] intend to get people dead. Here's one for you: consider the infamous "Piss Christ." Offensive, I'll grant you, but the most violent reaction it's gotten is that a copy of the photo got torn up, and I think another copy was vandalized with paint. Now, consider what would happen if somebody released "Piss Mohammed." I can think of a perfectly valid artistic reason to do so: not to inflame the Muslims [I]per se[/I], but to cast a spotlight on the radical difference between the reactions to functionally similar pieces. Problems, mistakes, bad ideas don't get fixed if they're kept in the shadows; we need the disinfecting power of bright sunshine to cure them. This controversy has done an amazing job of turning the light on what some people think. There are actually calls [I]from within this country[/I] to eviscerate the First Amendment in order to prevent people from getting butthurt. Frankly, I'm glad to hear it: it lets me know, in no uncertain terms, who needs to be removed from office at the earliest opportunity. Starting a discussion should never be a hanging offense. [/QUOTE]

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