The Book of Mohammed

I wanted to post a photo of the now-infamous Danish Newspaper (Jyllands Posten) cartoons, characterizing Mohammed (Prophet, D-Islam) in various unflattering ways. I couldn't find one. I Googled France Soir, the Newspaper in France that courageously and provocatively re-printed the cartoons, yesterday and found dozens of articles in other papers telling the story of the cartoons and the overblown worldwide Muslim response to their being printed. I dutifully clicked on all of them and learned a bit about the brouhaha but not one of the articles actually featured a photo of the cartoons. Now granted there are twelve of the cartoons and they would take alot of space in a small article but I really don't think that was the reason for the absence of the key visual aid in this international story of interest. As an article in The American Thinker posits, it probably has alot more to do with fear of international Muslim reprisals.

What a sad day when a French newspaper shows more cajones to publish these cartoons than any American newspaper! See the article by Tom Lifson
here

Since the article was written, many of Europe's newspapers have followed suit in solidarity but still the cartoons are all but impossible to find on the net.

Which brings me to another issue: the recent cancellation of the TV show, "The Book of Daniel". Now, I know that alot of people were offended by this show's irreverent treatment of religion and the immorality of many of the characters on the show. I'm willing to bet quite a bit of money, though, that few of these critics ever watched the show. People do, and should, have a right to criticize and even boycot the advertisers of a show they disagree with. The truth is, though, that nobody forces any viewer to watch anything they don't want to watch. If the show offends you, cut it off. I am not down with attempts to change the viewing habits of others. Of course, I am not defending the show because I never watched it and probably wouldn't.

Let's imagine for a moment, though, another program. This imaginary program could be called, "The book of Mohammed". It could satirize aspects of the Muslim religion and poke fun at an Imam's family by portraying the son as a homosexual, the daughter as a lesbian and the wife as a pill-popping shopaholic. The Imam could drive around talking to the prophet Mohammed (D-Islam) and ask for advice on mundane and trivial everyday matters. Perhaps, Mohammed would advise the Imam to exact the death of an unfriendly party store clerk or something.

How would this show be met by the masses? Of course such a show would never be aired because of fear of retaliation by the Muslim community, not to mention it's being culturally insensitive, but the reaction would be instantaneous and overwhelming. The reaction to these cartoons would pale by comparison.

I salute the papers that are re-printing these cartoons because they are standing up to the overbearing and oversensitive Muslim world community. It is a shame that such a peurile and unintellectual vehicle should be the place where the print journalists of the world make their stand but it needs to be done. The world must show that they will not be cowed by fatwas and jihads against the faintest slights against anything Muslim. Lord knows we Christians receive far worse without much ado.