Lars Vilks, the Swedish artist who created the Modoggies, was invited to Finland recently to take part in a discussion in the Finnish parliament. However, the event had to be cancelled, due to — what else? — “security concerns” raised by the security police, Supo.

So, in lieu of parliament, Mr. Vilks spoke at an event sponsored by the Finns Party (Perussuomalaiset), a nationalist and immigration-critical party that is vilified in Finland, as are all such parties across the whole of Europe.

The irony was probably not lost on Mr. Vilks, who is not at all a right-wing sort of person. He’s simply a staunch supporter of freedom of speech, and is manifestly willing to put his life on the line to defend the right to speak freely.

There’s no doubt about it: opposition to Islamization makes for strange bedfellows. If you are one of those dedicated citizens who are determined not to have muezzins ululating from minarets at godawful hours in your neighborhood, you never know with whom you may end up sharing a podium.

A side-note: Lars Vilks is now generally described as a “cartoonist”, simply because he drew a picture entitled “The Prophet as a Roundabout Dog”. But he’s not a cartoonist, and never has been. He is an artist, and his drawings of the Roundabout Prophets are in his own unique style, but they are not cartoons. The term “cartoonist” is a misnomer, bestowed upon him out of ignorance.

Many thanks to Steen for sending the link to this excellent presentation by Lars Vilks:

For previous posts on Lars Vilks and the Roundabout Dogs, see the Modoggie Archives.