A Danish writer complains that he cannot find an artist for the children's book on which he is working because every artist has, so far, refused to break an Islamic code that deals with how the image of the Prophet is portrayed.
The Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, tells cartoonists to "draw the Prophet as they see him" as a rebellious act against Muslim groups who have asked the paper to be sensitive to their beliefs. This results in the publishing of several cartoons depicting the Prophet in less-than-prophetic ways.
Obviously, this upsets a lot of Muslims...several nations-worth of Muslim groups, in fact. Widespread rioting ensues, people demand apologies, some demand that heads roll, but ultimately, the Danish government remains steadfast. It will leave the newspaper alone. It even encourages moderate Muslims to distance themselves away from the "radicals," and the moderates write a list of friendlier demands. The "radicals," themselves, cave into pressure, since it appears that the attacks on the Prophet are not going away.
And now other countries are getting into the act. Besides the publishing of the original cartoons, we now have a new cartoon with Germans talking about sending in the German Army to play the Iranians at soccer/football.
Source for cartoon
The caption reads: "Why the Bundeswehr (German Army) absolutely has to be deployed at the World Cup!"
Supporters of the cartoon proclaim that the Muslim community is taking the Danish newspaper's bait since the newspaper was only trying to point out their "abhorrence for freedom of speech".
Everyone is so busy with fighting some half-assed religious and civil rights war with Islam--a religion that most of these people feel is decades behind the rest of the world when dealing with women's and civil rights--they fail to understand the hatred they are spewing.
If a cartoonist from someplace in the Middle East--let's say Syria--published a cartoon portraying a dark-skinned Jesus figure looking at the reader with a caption bearing, "Yo, Honkey! They were right when they said that I'm black," there would be a collective cry of outrage by the Christian community (and a ten-year extension on the "war for peace").
Neither side is totally right, obviously.
Other countries do have the right to publish whatever they want about whomever they want. That's freedom of speech, folks, and even deemed-offensive political or religious cartoons fall into this category. In this age of technology and progression, most people in the world have a basic idea of their civil rights, and like it or not, that's here to stay. That means that people might possibly get offended by someone else.
However, this doesn't excuse the bigotry that has come forth from the American and European countries since the cartoons were published. Honestly, think about the previously-mentioned scenario, people. If the tides were turned, and Jesus was "poked fun at" in a political/religious cartoon, would you be OK with it? Or would you feel humiliated?
It's something to think about before you wax sarcasm about Islam and "ignorant savages" (yes, I am especially looking at you, Ann Coulter).
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