Sunday 12 February 2006

Muslim Cartoons

We seem stuck in a Muslim wonderland these days. Lots of words and little thinking.
The cartoons which seem to upset so many Muslims were in my view of no real offence. By showing Mohammed with a bomb in his turban merely reflected the view given to the West by Muslims worldwide, that they are a violent people. If Islam dislikes the depiction of, what they call, the prophet, then that is up to them to change. It is not for them to riot worldwide and expect the West to accept their demand for an apology.
Having said that, it is strange how we accept the constant insulting of Christianity daily in the media, but worry about upsetting Islam. To me, the Messiah being ridiculed by those ignorant, or afraid, of his message is much more important than the imagined insult suffered by followers of Islam. It is important to remember that most of this outcry has been hijacked, indeed begun by extremists in the Islamic world who want confrontation, who desire a war with the West.
It is therefore important to stand up to these people, because reason and dialogue will never have an effect on them. Appeasement of Adolf Hitler was doomed from the beginning, it will not work here!
What to do?
It is best not to do that which will deliberately annoy another. So don't go out of your way to upset them. But satire of the other man is normal in this country, and in any free land. It must continue. This can be done while respecting his opinion, even if wrong.
The point here is that like it or not, Islam MUST accept the Wests view that freedom of expression, not license, is perfectly acceptable. In the end, if they do not like the cartoons they are free to say so, but this does not mean the cartoons should be banned, or that more ought not to be produced!
It is time for Islam and it's followers to change, not the West to comply with their wishes.

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