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February 21, 2006
Danish cartoons nothing to laugh at
As citizens of the world, most everyone here at Hamline has heard of the Danish cartoon that has the Islamic world in a tizzy. One depicted Mohammed the Prophet in an offensive and distasteful manner. This is one of the most insulting things one can do to the Islamic tradition and is near blasphemous.
The Islamic world, or rather, a visible part of it, reacted with violence. In Iran, the Dutch embassy was razed. Last week, Iran's leading newspaper announced their own retaliation: they were starting a contest where, I kid you not, people would draw and send in cartoons making fun of the Holocaust. Within the first day, they had already received an entry that involved Anne Frank in bed with Hitler.
Obviously it would not be hard to find people, even the most devotional of Muslims, who would think this reaction is so wholly uncalled for it boarders on unmentionable. And while I'm not excusing it, I would hope that the situation is viewed with a little perspective: last Monday, when the story broke, was Islam's equivalent of Black Thursday, when a great religious leader was killed in the name of the faith. To make it understandable to the Christians who are in the majority: how would you feel if someone depicted Jesus on the crucifix, say, advertising a used furniture store, on Easter?(This, by the way, is softening it for some people.) It would not be a stretch to say that this was a violence committed against the Islamic people.
What has been going on in response to this is unacceptable. But what members of other faiths have been saying about Islam is also uncalled for. A Minneapolis priest wrote a letter to the Star Tribune calling Islam a religion of "intolerance and hatred." There have already been reported cases (a very small amount, but still) of violence against Muslims for what members of their religion are doing halfway across the globe. I'm not saying Islam is perfect. What I'm saying is neither is any other religion. Even Buddhism had Aum Shinri Kyo, the Japanese group that poison-gassed a subway and killed 12 people and injured thousands. Christianity has the bloodiest history of all religionsčno other group has gone on a continental conversion/torture summer tour, for example. There are better ways to judge a religion, or even better, the people in that religion. Listen to more than just what makes the news-like the soup kitchen and homeless shelter that provide a roof for the needy, or the Jewish summer programs that help explain American Judaism to those who have never had experience with it, thus promoting religious interconnectivity. I mentioned that a visible section of Islam was reacting violently-this means there are plenty of non-sound-bite-worthy Muslims who have taken the issue in stride. To really get to know a religion, know a fair amount of the people involved in it, not just the ones who make it to TV.
Posted by dwright at February 21, 2006 12:38 PM
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