From the CBN News. The video speaks for itself, so my comment is not needed:

youtube.com/watch?v=eX7oezVO1B…
Don't worry, she isn't dead... much to the chagrin of the people who hitlisted her for drawing a picture. But because of the threats on her life, she has been forced to wipe out her identity and go into hiding.

We get (got, rather) a lot of comments accusing us of being offensive and disrespectful. Cry me a bloody river. Being offensive is nothing, compared to bullying a person into obliterating her identity for the sake of her personal safety. A woman's life has been torn apart and turned upside-down because some people got offended. If you can't see what's wrong with that, then you lack sense and decency and are in no position to lecture others about ethics and respect.

I sincerely hope that the extreme measures Molly was forced to take prove effective, and she can live her new life in peace. As well, I'm sure we all want to see the day when people never have to go through what she went through. The sooner that people wake up and realize their religious beliefs don't entitle them to control the lives of other people, the better.
Rather unsurprisingly, the Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris, who started the internet-wide protest 'Everyone Draw Mohammed Day', has been hitlisted for drawing Mohammed. She and a handful of others have been chosen to die a violent death for the "crime" of drawing silly cartoons.

Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki - the radical who has also been cited as inspiring the Fort Hood, Tex., massacre and the plot by two New Jersey men to kill U.S. soldiers - singled out artist Molly Norris as a "prime target," saying her "proper abode is hellfire."

FBI officials have notified Norris and warned her they consider it a "very serious threat."

In an English-language Al Qaeda magazine that calls itself "Inspire," Awlaki damns Norris and eight others for "blasphemous caricatures" of the Prophet Muhammed. The other cartoonists, authors and journalists in Awlaki's cross hairs are Swedish, Dutch and British citizens.

The 67-page terror rag is seen by terrorism experts as a bald new attempt to reach and recruit Muslim youth in the West.

"The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved," writes Awlaki, 39, a Las Cruces, N.M.-born American citizen.


Though Norris was the one who started Draw Mohammed Day, she later withdrew her participation out of fear of being targeted. This apparently hasn't stopped religious extremists from targeting her anyway, in an intimidation campaign aimed at complete compliance from people over which they shouldn't have any control.

Of course, their continued targeting of visible people while hiding themselves away from the thousands, if not millions, of participants of Draw Mo Day only shows the lie that this is about the "crime" of drawing Mohammed. All of us who have participated in Draw Mohammed Day are now guilty of a "crime" and deserving of death, according to these extremists, but they don't go after us, because they know they can't.

Their intent is to silence those who speak a bit too loudly, lest anyone show that they have no power outside of the boundaries of their own religion, and that they shouldn't be allowed such power. It's easier to do that by going after a few high-profile individuals, in the hopes that this will get the rest of society scared enough to fall in line (rather similar to a hate crime, in that regard, though on a more widespread scale). That's also why they hide away whole chunks of the internet, where people dared to question the authority of religious extremism.

"A soul that is so debased, ... so ungrateful towards its lord that it defames the Prophet of the religion Allah has chosen for his creation does not deserve life, does not deserve to breathe the air."


Extremists--of all walks--can't stand the idea of differing beliefs, nor can they stand the idea of not having power over the rest of the world.

Of course, all they're doing is showing what a snivelling, cowardly lot they are, and what a poison to their religion that they're becoming. Not that they give a damn.

(Tip of the hat toward Pharyngula and the vigilant raygungoth.)
One of our watchers brought this video to my attention:

youtube.com/watch?v=aOcWjFhH6L…

Asadullah Ali, a Muslim, speaks his mind on the topic of Islam, Islamic stereotype in the Western world and other things, Muhammad cartoons included. Give it a watch everyone.

UPDATE:
Here's a follow-up to the previous video:
youtube.com/watch?v=AP0B14KDP1…
Though not a threat of violence and death, blasphemy laws are another form of censorship pushed unjustly upon millions of people, whether or not they follow a specific religion, or any religion at all. Under these laws, people can be fined or put into jail for saying anything that might be offensive to "religious feelings". This is an unfair and unjust law, because it punishes the expression of opinion, and it doesn't recognize the equality of all citizens, since there is no protection for the non-religious. A priest can dehumanize atheists (and they have--see: Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor) without fear of retribution, but say an unkind word about a religion--not even a religious person, but the religion itself--and you could be punished.

The US has no such blasphemy law (blasphemy is protected speech), but some Western countries still have these archaic laws, and people today are still being punished for the "crime" of speaking their mind.

In 1978, Spanish musician Javier Krahe created a satirical home video for the amusement of his friends, where he baked a buttered crucifix in the oven on a bed of onions. In 2005, frames of the video were shown on the Spanish TV show Lo+Plus, and the video was referenced during an interview with Krahe. The Catholic church pressed charges on Krahe and the director of Lo+Plus. Now, Krahe could be fined 192,000 euros for a video he made thirty years ago, where no one was harmed whatsoever, except for the perceived dignity of a little wooden statue.

To show support for Krahe and others under the heel of ridiculous blasphemy laws, and to protest the laws themselves, everyone is asked to bake Jesus on July 3rd. Bake a Jesus cake. Bake Jesus bread. Bake some Jesus ribs, (or Jesus tofu).

If you can't bake, draw! Draw a picture of yourself or your friend, your cat, your avatar, or your favorite character baking Jesus and send it to Facebook! Don't forget to upload it to Deviantart, as well. Or just talk about what you think of this whole mess.

We've said many times that if Christians were killing people for drawing Jesus, then we would be having Everyone Draw Jesus Day. While no one is being killed, it's still a barbaric breach of justice and an act of censorship on unwilling nonbelievers (and many believers, as well).

The original story: rinzewind.org/archives/2010/05…
The Facebook event: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid…
Another article on the event: nirmukta.com/2010/06/16/everyb…
The video that started it all: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bTFn-…

Thank you, and happy baking! And don't forget to spread the word!