Understanding Muslim Anger over the cartoon...
Tue Feb 07, 2006 at 12:39:00 PM PDT
Im sure most people have heard about or seen the cartoon that has shocked the Islamic world into outrage. I refuse to see it out of respect for the wishes of the islamic people. Normally I think anything is fair game, including cartoons of bad taste, but in a way I understand why muslims are outraged that the prophet mohammed's picture was even printed.
Islam is under attack by the liberal west. Believe it or not, George W Bush is very liberal compared to most Islamic leaders.One of the most appealing features of Islam is how it organizes one's life into simple tenets of their faith. In many ways, this is the goal of conservativism. Perhaps in american or western conservatism, there is more room for growth and potential for change. In Islam, changes happen very rarely, perhaps because there doesnt seem to be any necessity considering how fleeting life is in general. In a sense, liberals think beyond their own lives, and are more eager for revolution in this world.
If you have ever been to a mosque, you'll find it is a very comforting place where you can sit and meditate and feel at peace with your simple life. All you have to do is follow some rituals, work hard, and glory will be yours in the next life. It is definately a contrast with my religion of hinduism, where the chaos of the universe all seems to find its way into our people,temples, statues, architecture, etc.
As liberals or progressives, we are motivated to question or change our surroundings, and throw away ideas without MUCH hesitation. Most of us arent anarchists, we have certain rules of decency and boundries we wont cross. When we communicate through humor, progressives perhaps find that we can tolerate more of that bad taste than conservatives, who are much more easily offended. Thats why we are liberal, I wouldnt say we dont hold anything sacred, but we definately are less inclined to keep ourselves satiated with strict rules of which to adhere.
I dont agree with too much of anything that Amish people believe in, but if they want to drive around horse buggys and not use electricity, so be it. Although I have made an Amish joke in my lifetime, I recognize that its rude to make fun of someone when they are not laughing with you. Muslim's have had a very simple idea, that you never show the prophet Mohammed's face, and to blatantly disregard that, is rude also.
You might be saying, Islam get over yourself. We all make jokes about Jesus, Buddha, Vishnu, Jewish people, and printing the image of Mohammed is nothing.
Like I said islam is under attack from the west. The reason people in Iraq are not happy with the occupation, is because it is humiliating to them that anyone would find such an act of war necessary. In many ways I might argue that pluralistic democracy, equal rights, freedom of speech are necessary in any advanced culture, but those happen over time FROM WITHIN. There are definately some Islamic people who want to have no dialogue from the west, that would be dangerous for islam itself, because lets face it, some of our ideals are PROBABLY better. But no one is going to listen to you if you are patronizing, ridiculing, and glib to many of the things that Islam holds sacred. Islamic people who protest violently don't do themselves any favors, but their outrage is understandable. When they Burn effigies of Bush and Clinton, and scream death to America, these are the people who want to close the exchange of ideas between the west and the islamic world. Their fire is being fueled by indifference of the west toward their own cultural standards of decency. We as progressives can do the best thing possible, make sure we keep an open dialogue that fosters change in Islam, but at the same time RESPECT THEIR RIGHT TO BE CONSERVATIVE.
