In an effort to be taken seriously on a global scale, Muslim extremists have flown the coop over a cartoon of their beloved prophet, Mohammed. The “Jyllands-Posten,” a Danish paper, recently ran a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed sporting a bomb in his turban, which caused Muslim demonstrators, in a fit of infantile barbarism, to set fire to the Danish embassies in Syria and Lebanon and hold chaotic protests elsewhere. They have also demanded the Danish government apologize for the cartoons, which “Jyllands-Posten” printed in September.
The last part of that is reasonable. After all, that is how civilized societies handle disagreements; through shared candor. A global, violent reaction spurned from a line drawing is nothing short of medieval. Along with destroying foreign government property, these childish protestors are also killing other protestors for the same cause and even people of their own blood.
The Islamist demonstrators are only worsening their already poor global standing. The Bush Administration, the Batman to the Islamists’ Mr. Freeze (or vice versa, honestly), has long depicted Islamic extremists as the enemy because they “hate our freedom.” Up until now, there has not been an obvious notion to back up such a statement.
The outrage is understandable. The cartoon depiction of Mohammed is undoubtedly offensive to the followers of Islam. We saw a similar (though far less violent) religious upheaval on our own soil over the holidays (re: War on Christmas). Thankfully, we have moved past the bomb-hurling, knee jerk reactions of yore. Otherwise, imagine the social upheaval over the new Kanye West “dressed-as-Jesus” “Rolling Stone” cover. OH NO! WE MUST KILL AND BURN BUILDINGS IN DEFIANCE!
The cartoon itself was penned in an effort to point out radical Islam’s brash use of violence to achieve its goals. There have been no protests from Muslim groups demonstrating against the attacks. Where is the outrage over the bloodshed within the Muslim community? Can even the Muslim-on-Muslim violence be justified through religion? It is now easy to see how a cartoon lampooning the use of violence led to violence. It is also now easy to see that radical Islam understands irony about as much as it understands one of the most basic human rights: freedom of speech.
–Jason Harrison