Muslims don't like cartoons.
Muslim women don't like cartoons either.
Or glass apparently.
I know that the ideas of freedom of the press, political cartoons and religious satire are big in the West. We have the "Jesus Is My Homeboy" t-shirts and all of that (which actually would be offensive to Muslims as well) but some ideas take time.
However an juvenile humorless cartoon of Mohammed as a terrorist in the age of global media was not a good idea. Muslims do have the Internet.
Bad timing Europe, bad timing.
Unfunny cartoon they printed
Better cartoon they didn't print
Here are some things that Muslims should be mad about.
- In the Philippines, 73 were killed during a stampede at the site of a popular game show. Someone yelled out "There's a bomb" and being that this was a Muslim country, people ran.
- From Egypt ferry story,
Other survivors described a tense standoff between the captain and many on the ship, as passengers and even some crew members began demanding the ship be turned around and return to Saudi Arabia as smoke poured out of the lower deck.
"By midnight there was serious fire on the bottom and smoke rising up to the fourth floor, and they kept saying we have control over the situation.," said Nabil Taghyan, 27, who survived by wearing a life jacket and boarding an inflatable raft.
Despite pleas to turn back, the captain insisted it would be better to steam ahead to Safaga, Mr. Taghyan said.
Mr. Taghyan said he ultimately saw the captain and crew flee using the lifeboats, while some passengers in life jackets tried to hang on to the ship and the debris. "The captain took the first speed boat, even though he should go last," Mr. Taghyan said. "There was yelling and screaming and people dying and there were people dead in their life vests, and there were huge waves."
I'm sure something in those two stories warranted a good burning.
Remember, Start Snitching loves ya Islam!
Oh, and if last week's prison break wasn't enough, the mastermind behind the U.S.S. Cole attack has escaped.
Those Osama tapes got Arabs crunk!
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I just want to point out that there are A LOT of Muslims (myself included) who do NOT agree with the violence that is going on in the Middle East. I would really really really appreciate it if you would somehow acknowledge the fact that there is a fanatical group of people behind the violence, and that there opinions aren't shared by many Muslims, especially those in the West.
ReplyDeleteOverall I love your blog, but I was a bit disappointed with this post.
My family is Muslim and I was born Muslim as well.
ReplyDeleteI am well aware of the fanatical/secular divisions in Islam, however after a certain amount of media coverage and dominance the "fringe minority" becomes the norm.
I know the media shows what they need to, but too often the normal Muslims don't say anything.
People dying over a cartoon is a bit much and it is hard for calmer Muslims to have an anti-riot, but Muslims don't speak about enough regardless.
That's why I spoke of it as the norm.
I don't think it is a case of normal Muslims not saying anything, as much as it is the ratings game. What are more people going to tune in for: violence in the name of Islam, or someone speaking about how they don't agree with the violence? Not to mention, this country is so overwhelmingly Christian that IMO they are specifically trying to drive out any other religions and religious influences. I would love to see a tv crew down at the local mosque interviewing the imam, but I don't see it happening in this country.
ReplyDeleteThere are some of us out there speaking out against it (its in my blog, if you want to read it), but no one's coming to me to ask my opinion. I can't hold a press conference and actually expect the press to come. The most that I can do is share my views and calls for peace through my limited means and pray that someone hears them.
Well, I think that many people (I hesitate to say most) realize that the rioters do not represent the majority opinion. However, I think that whether it is the majority opinion or not, it is news. They burnt down foreign embassies. That's news. I'm not saying it's good news, or that it's doing anything to help muslim relations here, but it's news.
ReplyDeleteAnd though I haven't necessarily seen it covered on TV, there is a fair amount of coverage of muslims speaking out against the violence in the print and radio fields.