Flemming Rose
Flemming Rose
Flemming Roseis a Danish journalist, author and since 2010 foreign affairs editor at the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. As culture editor of the same newspaper, he was principally responsible for the September 2005 publication of the cartoons that initiated the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy early the next year, and since then he has been an international advocate of the freedom of speech...
asking believer demands follow holy observe public respect secular synagogue taboos taking visit
When I visit a mosque, I show my respect by taking off my shoes. I follow the customs, just as I do in a church, synagogue or other holy place. But if a believer demands that I, as a nonbeliever, observe his taboos in the public domain, he is not asking for my respect, but for my submission. And that is incompatible with secular democracy.
against cultural dealing directed europe life people themselves
These were not directed against Muslims, but against people in cultural life in Europe who are submitting themselves to self-censorship when dealing with Islam.
committed line percent
I have committed an error. I am 100 percent with the newspaper's line and Carsten Juste in this case.
asking attention cannot everybody follow insist paying principle public religious respect secular society special taboos
I do not think they are asking for respect in this case. They want me to follow one of their taboos in the public domain. And I think there's a very fundamental principle in secular society that you cannot insist on everybody paying special attention to your religious feelings.
acceptable boundaries cartoons free muslims offended sorry speech within
I feel sorry if Muslims feel offended and that was not the intention. But the cartoons were within the acceptable boundaries of free speech in Denmark.
cartoon cartoons danish east happening human middle situation worth
No cartoon is worth a human life. But what is happening has more to do with the situation in the Middle East than 12 cartoons in a Danish newspaper.
according chose cover
There was a story out there and we had to cover it. We just chose to cover it in a different way, according to the principal: don't tell it, show it.
cartoons publish run
We would run these cartoons the same day as they would publish them.
hate men speech
What is one man's hate speech is another man's poetry.
growing-up people being-different
The point here is what makes human beings different from other creatures is our ability to use language. We can use words to express ourselves in very eloquent and complex ways. We grow up telling and listening to stories. That's what turns us into the people we are.
views democracy different
There is no society that protects freedom of religion more than secular democracies, because in societies where one religion rules, different viewpoints will be labelled as heresy and blasphemy. Why? Because the society is built on religion - not freedom for all points of view.
thinking people would-be
I think it would be unfortunate if people in Saudi Arabia or some parts of the world influenced what we speak about in Denmark. [But] it's a fact of globalization, and we must consider it.
buddhism cartoon islam
The cartoonists treated Islam the same way they treat Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions. And by treating Muslims in Denmark as equals they made a point we are integrating you into the Danish tradition of satire because you are part of our society, not strangers. The cartoons are including, rather than excluding, Muslims.
democracy should liberal-democracy
The only right we do not and should not have in a liberal democracy is a right not to be offended.