Innocence of Muslims filmmaker finally sentenced

Last updated on: November 9, 2012 at 12:15 pm by mollie

Innocence of Muslims filmmaker finally sentenced 2012-11-09T12:15:02-05:00 mollie

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Of the many curious coverage decisions the mainstream media made this year, I thought the relative lack of interest in the plight of Mark Bassely Youssef, who made “Innocence of Muslims,” was noteworthy. There’s no question the dude is shady and broke the law in matters unrelated to the YouTube phenomenon. But the Obama administration’s focus on him, the physical threats issued against him, and his incarceration over the last few months also merited some serious discussions about free speech as its practiced in the United States.

But the media could not really have been much less interested in him.

The Associated Press does give us a follow-up this week about the situation. It begins:

The California man behind an anti-Muslim film that led to violence in many parts of the Middle East was sentenced Wednesday to a year in federal prison for probation violations in an unrelated matter, then issued a provocative statement through his attorney.

What’s the provocative statement?

Shortly after Youssef left the courtroom, his lawyer, Steven Seiden, came to the front steps of the courthouse and told reporters his client wanted to send a message.

“The one thing he wanted me to tell all of you is President Obama may have gotten Osama bin Laden, but he didn’t kill the ideology,” Seiden said.

Asked what that meant, Seiden said, “I didn’t ask him, and I don’t know.”

Is that statement either provocative or unclear? It seems kind of obvious and clear as day to me. I was trying to figure out if the writer was just trying to play it straight, because it’s clear that there are all sorts of hints at what Youssef was getting at. We’re told that the U.S. attorney said the case had nothing to do with the film but that had he been truthful with people associated with the film, they may not have done the film:

He said they have had death threats and feel their careers have been ruined.

Even the worst Hollywood films don’t usually result in death threats. Is there a ghost there?

Or what about this?

Youssef, 55, was arrested in late September, just weeks after he went into hiding when the deadly violence erupted.

Enraged Muslims had demanded severe punishment for Youssef, with a Pakistani cabinet minister even offering $100,000 to anyone who kills him.

Hmm. Is there anything ideological or religious that could be unpacked here?

The piece goes into detail about the stiff sentencing the con man received. I’d love to see how this news is reported around the world.

Previous Post

November 8, 2012

What is this "American Catholic Church," anyway?

Next Post

November 9, 2012 Man prays in airplane aisle, for no particular reason

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 5Q+1 Academia Anglicanism Announcements Atheists & Agnostics Baptists Books Business & Economy Catholicism Creeping Fundamentalism Education Ethics Evangelicals Film First Person gays Godbeat Got news? Humor Interviews Islam Journalism Judaism Lutherans Mainline Marriage & family Middle East Mormons Music Nones Orthodoxy Pagans Pentecostalism People Podcasts Politics Pop Culture Race Radio & TV Religion religious liberty Same-sex marriage Science Sex Social Issues Sports Uncategorized Vatican Web/Tech What is this? World World Religions Worship

Select a Month August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 May 2010 July 2009 February 2009 October 2008 July 2008 January 2007 August 2006 July 2006 October 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What happened when the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Fire rained from heaven The sun stood still The Jordan parted Dagon's idol fell