2008 Woodie Awards
Poking, Prodding, Provoking
Should the west play nice?
Brian Dean
Issue date: 2/15/06 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Forget the free speech defense.
Forget the useless comparisons to how Christians or Jews would react in the same situation.
The fact is although violence is wrong and certainly won't get them any closer to an apology, Muslims have the right to be beyond outraged.
And the real question is why the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten (The Jutland Post) chose to run the offending drawings at all.
Some people don't care if their statements insult other people, and often they do it intentionally. These kind of people will never be deterred in their efforts.
And though there should never be any law passed that resembles censorship of such offensive material, responsible editors should exercise their good judgment and deny the publication of anything gratuitously insulting.
From a sheer lack of understanding of Islamic culture, the depiction of the prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban was thought to be taken in stride; with a hearty chuckle and a witty, self-deprecating comment about contrasting civilizations.
But it's now widely evident that Islam is taken very seriously by its followers.
For them, it's not just religion. It's everything. Government, lessons for life, and the path to salvation.
To the average American, it would be similar to equating George Washington, Jesus and Dr. Phil to terrorists.
In a world increasingly divided along religious lines, a world captivated by America's "war on terror" in nations that are almost entirely Islamic, this cartoon controversy couldn't have come at a worse time.
We feel the need to reassure people that the Western world is not in a war against Islam.
But despite this attempt at sensitivity, yet another slight to Muslims emerges from the Christian West.
Jyllands-Posten, which identifies itself as a right-wing newspaper, rejected cartoons ridiculing Jesus three years ago.
In an e-mail from the paper's Sunday editor, Jens Kaiser, Danish illustrator Christoffer Zieler was told, "they will provoke an outcry."
Stating also that he did not believe the readers would enjoy them, Kaiser rejected the drawings.
This kind of double standard makes it easier to believe Islam itself is the target, and that there are agents' provocateurs in every corner.
Publishing these cartoons comes close to inciting violence, knowing the instability of the relationship between the West and the vast majority of the Islamic world who are not terrorists.
Perhaps some self-censorship, knowing when and how far to push the envelope, is all we can hope for.
Forget the useless comparisons to how Christians or Jews would react in the same situation.
The fact is although violence is wrong and certainly won't get them any closer to an apology, Muslims have the right to be beyond outraged.
And the real question is why the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten (The Jutland Post) chose to run the offending drawings at all.
Some people don't care if their statements insult other people, and often they do it intentionally. These kind of people will never be deterred in their efforts.
And though there should never be any law passed that resembles censorship of such offensive material, responsible editors should exercise their good judgment and deny the publication of anything gratuitously insulting.
From a sheer lack of understanding of Islamic culture, the depiction of the prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban was thought to be taken in stride; with a hearty chuckle and a witty, self-deprecating comment about contrasting civilizations.
But it's now widely evident that Islam is taken very seriously by its followers.
For them, it's not just religion. It's everything. Government, lessons for life, and the path to salvation.
To the average American, it would be similar to equating George Washington, Jesus and Dr. Phil to terrorists.
In a world increasingly divided along religious lines, a world captivated by America's "war on terror" in nations that are almost entirely Islamic, this cartoon controversy couldn't have come at a worse time.
We feel the need to reassure people that the Western world is not in a war against Islam.
But despite this attempt at sensitivity, yet another slight to Muslims emerges from the Christian West.
Jyllands-Posten, which identifies itself as a right-wing newspaper, rejected cartoons ridiculing Jesus three years ago.
In an e-mail from the paper's Sunday editor, Jens Kaiser, Danish illustrator Christoffer Zieler was told, "they will provoke an outcry."
Stating also that he did not believe the readers would enjoy them, Kaiser rejected the drawings.
This kind of double standard makes it easier to believe Islam itself is the target, and that there are agents' provocateurs in every corner.
Publishing these cartoons comes close to inciting violence, knowing the instability of the relationship between the West and the vast majority of the Islamic world who are not terrorists.
Perhaps some self-censorship, knowing when and how far to push the envelope, is all we can hope for.
