Being Defensive in Excess

"A picture" - it is said - "is worth a thousand words." Such is the case in the uproar over a not-so-recent (September!) publishing of a series of cartoons published in a Danish newspaper [news link]; the cartoons have been republished this past week in various publications across Europe [news link]. One of the cartoons depicted the prophet Mohammed wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a burning fuse.

And that bomb has gone off. Muslims around the world are furious. Okay, that's understandable. But to recall ambassadors, burn embassies, and essentially issue death threats against various European interests? Once again, Islam is showing its zero tolerance for anything that is not Islam. Get a freaking life! Oh, and by the way - welcome to the free press! I found an article from a rather enlightened Arab in which he states that Muslims have a repeated history of playing the part of the victim.

Jesus reminds us to turn the other cheek. And as Christians in society, we tend to do that. Our religion is blasphemed on a daily basis, by many groups including Muslims (when they want to take a break from persecuting Jews). In response, do you see us beheading Muslims for their faith? Do you see us using our churches as munition dumps? Do you see us crashing jetliners into mosques? No, of course not. I just wonder if Muslims are angry simply because Mohammed was depicted, or was it because of the way in which he was depicted. I tend to think that if idolatry wasn't the issue, perhaps they'd be proud of how Mohammed was depicted.

Islamic law does indeed prohibit any depiction of the prophet Mohammed. But I'm not bound by Islamic law, nor are the newspapers that published these cartoons. Yet out of respect I personally would not have published the cartoons myself, nor did I choose to publish these images on this blog (however I've included a link to one of the cartoons here in case you're curious what the uproar is about). Just because we can say something, doesn't mean we should.

But Islam has done absolutely nothing to demonstrate their faith has been depicted falsely. In fact, their responses only add more credibility to their detractors. Frankly, the folks in Europe are quite pissed off with their Muslim immigrants; these cartoons - controversial as they may be - are merely a reflection of the frustrations that are being experienced there. After all, we're dealing with a mentality that finds people dancing in the streets when America was attacked on September 11, 2001. In Iraq we found images glorifying the destruction of the World Trade Center. Not to mention celebrations over Bali, Madrid, and London - broadcast in living color on al-Jazeera. And you wonder why Islam is shown in such a negative light by the rest of the world! Get a frickin' clue!

I do not post this article out of hatred - I write this in an attitude of righteous anger. For I am thankful that God has given me a free will. I am thankful that I live in a nation that allows me to exercise that free will. And most of all, I am thankful that I walk a faith journey that is based on love and grace, not a religion whose history has shown to be spread through fear and intimidation, conquest or death. And if you find that offensive, that's just too frickin' bad.