BOSCH FAWSTIN: WHY I DRAW MUHAMMAD
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
I’ve drawn all of my life, but I never drew Muhammad, even though I was raised Muslim and was told he was a great man. And then, in 2005, Muslims threatened Danish cartoonists with death for drawing Muhammad. Like 9/11/01, the event was a flashpoint in my life. Free Speech was under attack by the same enemy who flew planes into our towers and who continued to wage a global jihad on civilization because a weak West refuses to defeat them. And in the face of this attack on Free Speech, many in the West refused to publish the Danish Muhammad cartoons, purportedly out of “respect for Islam,” but in reality, because they’re self-loathing gutless people who have no principles. Many in the West became de facto Muslims and submitted to Islam. And the enemy watched, pleased.That’s when I decided to draw Muhammad. Not to “taunt” Muslims, as I’m accused of doing, as if “taunting” should lead to death threats and death, but to draw what the Islamic enemy doesn’t want me to draw. Defying evil is not “taunting.” I draw Muhammad not because I’m “suicidal,” as I’m ironically told by those who also claim that “Islam means peace,” but because I have the right to draw anything I want to. I first drew Muhammad in support of those who drew him and had their lives threatened over it. I drew Muhammad in support of those who were character assassinated by those without character. Those who draw Muhammad are condemned for “disrespecting Islam,” a religion that respects nothing outside of it, and tells its followers to “kill the infidels wherever you find them.” The greatest crime in Islam is not any actual crime; it’s disbelief in Islam. And the “crime” of drawing Muhammad is essentially Muslims flexing their muscles against a weak West, to keep us in check, as Muslims have drawn Muhammad over the centuries, particularly Shiite Muslims. It’s all about an enemy trying to intimidate a West who has shown that it’s willing to submit to its demands. I drew Muhammad, and I continue to draw Muhammad, because I’m free. Because I love Free Speech, and I want to live in a world where Free Speech is alive and well. All one needs to do is look at the parts of the world where there is no Free Speech, to fully appreciate how monumentally important it is.I draw Muhammad because if I don’t — and many have stopped drawing him — then we will more closely resemble the Islamic world, which is a world where the bad guy won. I will continue to do my individual part to make sure that our world is never going to be that world, one Muhammad cartoon at a time. I have over 130 of my Muhammad cartoons in this volume, and I’ve drawn him over 200 times, so I expect to have more volumes.I was asked in an interview once if I will ever stop drawing Muhammad, and I answered, “No. While it’s not a joy to draw something that brings death threats, it’s the death threats that will have to stop before I ever stop drawing Muhammad.” And so I continue to draw Muhammad, despite death threats. Despite the fact that most publishers will never give me work because of it. The enemy goes undefeated, and they continue to threaten us with more attacks, and personally threaten me for drawing Muhammad cartoons. I’m asked, “Aren’t you afraid to draw Muhammad?,” and I answer that I’m afraid not to. I can’t imagine letting savages dictate what I draw. Savages who murder human beings over cartoons. That’s intolerable, and they must be fought on all fronts, and I fight them by drawing Muhammad.
