Time to Move On

The reactions to the offensive cartoons have taken the whole world off guard. Bear in mind that the cartoons were originally commissioned by a respected Danish childrens book author, who wanted images of the prophet for his book. Twelve cartoons were published, some were quite offensive to Muslims. Shortly before his arrest, a Jordanian editor published and commented on the cartoons in an interview with Newsweek:

I think there is a political motive behind the Muslim uprisings. Why are the voices protesting these cartoons so very loud? We are talking here about countries that have taken the step of supporting the uprising and encouraging boycotts.

... We must forgive. We’re talking about a foreign newspaper in Denmark, far away from the Muslim world. Maybe they didn’t know they were doing something wrong and either way, they have apologized and the Muslim world must accept it. I’m not empathizing with them, I don’t agree with them but we can’t just go that far with our punishment. I feel we, the Muslims, are overreacting.

I didn’t publish the cartoons because I support them. My position is to show our leaders how silly they are and how they insulted the Prophet Muhammad. They show him as a terrorist and I’m against this. We must respect not just Muhammad but all religions.

Muslim leaders need to explain to their followers that, in Denmark, and other countries with a free press, the goverment does NOT control the press. It is as if the Wall St. Journal or the Washington Times published something offensive, and the reaction is to either threaten all Americans, or boycott all American companies. Clearly some of the cartoons were offensive, and muslims have a right to express their displeasure, but as more and more Europeans note, in societies with a free press, it has to end right there. You do not burn embassies, threaten citizens of entire countries, or boycott products from entire countries.

One need only go to the Cartoon Museum in SF to find cartoons with portrayals of Jesus that Christians would object to: while objections must be registered, it must not escalate to violence. The reaction is so amazing, that an NPR interviewer noted: "I never thought I would ever here the phrase 'Death to Denmark!' being chanted all over the world."

I heard a spokesman for the Syrian goverment tell BBC that this is the start of a holocaust against muslims! These particular cartoons??? Probably not. The West has a long history of misadventures in the Middle East, but I wouldn't blame all of Denmark for the decisions of a few editors. Unfortunately, unless you understand how a free press system works, it might be hard to see that blaming entire countries is too much.

UPDATE: Here is a Jesus cartoon from TruthDig.com.