Everybody Draw Mohammed Day - Making A Free Speech Point

May 20 is now “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day,” thanks to Facebook. We can officially add this "holiday" as one more odd non-official holiday. Some see this web meme a harmless way to spark debate. However, Everybody Draw Mohammed Day runs the risk of building more anger than understanding.

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Everybody Draw Mohammed Day – the context

The free speech questions behind Everybody Draw Mohammed Day are building for years. The prophet Mohammed and God aren’t allowed to be depicted, according to the Muslim religion. The first controversy of the depiction of Mohammed by non-Muslim artists started in 2005, when a Danish newspaper printed a full-page layout with numerous depictions of the prophet. Just a couple of weeks ago, a South Park episode that satirizes the prohibition on showing Mohammed caused death threats to be leveled against South Park creators. This five-year debate has caused as many as 200 deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of lawsuits. Instead of hide or hire bodyguards, numerous people are choosing payday cash to face threats of personal injury head-on.

What Everybody Draw Mohammed Day is about

On April 23, Everyone Draw Mohammed Day was announced on the Portland Mercury website. This "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" was created as a way to respond to the death threats against "South Park" creators. As outlined by the Facebook page created for Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, the creators are hoping to "spark serious debate in international forums.”

The effects of Everybody Draw Mohammed Day

The popularity of Everybody Draw Mohammed Day has sparked reactions from a wide variety of organizations and individuals. For a short time, Facebook did delete the page, though access had been restored as of May 20. Free speech advocates are calling Everyone Draw Mohammed Day a way to exercise the right to free speech. Instead of mocking Muslim extremists, many worry the day may lead to whole scale mockery of the Muslim religion. In Pakistan, Facebook has been blocked until May 31 in response to Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.

So what do you think? Is Everybody Draw Mohammad day a dangerous or offensive celebration? Or is Everybody Draw Mohammed Day a way to spark debate and peacefully express free speech?