On the whole, I agree with you, Michael. I will say that while I don't condone the fanatical response to these months old cartoons, I can understand the anger that many Muslims feel: it's exactly what I would feel if a cartoonist were to portray Jesus as a terrorist, for example. There's also the fact that in Islam, the prophet Muhammad is never portrayed. It's just not done.

The proper response, of course, would have been to write letters to the papers and point out that fact, and maybe to encourage Muslim readers to cancel their subscriptions. Killing people (or calling for their killing), beating people up in the streets, and burning down buildings is just vastly out of all proportion to the harm done.

I would also argue with you that the Christofascists here in the United States are non-violent. They may not be in the habit of routinely rampaging in the streets the way many of the Islamic fanatics do, but they do their share of it. Abortion clinic protests, gay bashings, and, when you get up to the really whacked-out fundies, you get things like the Aryan Nations and the Christian Identity movement--and they are all about guns and violence, and not in the slightest bit concerned about letting people know that.

Well said, Michael Lucas! As moderate Liberal, I completely found Islamic extremists' reactions to the whole thing -- absurd.

They claimed that it is a religion of peace. And they threaten to decapitate people who offend their so-called Prophet Mohammed.

So much for their claims.

R-

I totally agree with you Michael. Well said.

Thank you, thank you for writing this. I was made so crazy by so much of the reporting (I'm looking at you CNN) that I actually had to watch Fox News for some reason. Imagine that! I'm so tired of everyone trying to explain this crazy, barbaric, psychotic behavior on the part of so many Muslims. Where did this idea come about that you must respect everyone's religion? All I have to do is respect a person's right to believe what they want to believe, not respect the beliefs themselves. People can believe some truly fucked up shit. This is evidence of that. It's sad that so many US newschannels and newspapers won't even show the offending cartoons. I'm so incensed I can barely type properly.

I'm reminded of a segment I saw on Bill Maher's 'Politically Incorrect' show after 9/11. He was mentioning how everyone was talking about the differences in civilizations- Islam and the West. He made the point that this isn't just about difference, but actually about the quality of two civilizations. One is actually better than the other. Respect for freedom of speech-Better, respect for freedom of religion-Better, respect for women's rights-Better, not imprisoning or killing homosexuals-Better, and it went on from there. This is a moment for people who truly believe in freedom to stand up for it and not cowtow to these rampaging thugs.

I agree.. what is going on lately is out of control. You didn't mention Muslims' treatment of women (i.e., they have no rights), but that just adds one more reason why the word "pathological" fits these extremists.

Michael,

Of course I agree with you about these so called "religious protests". Was it our old faded icon Karl Marx" who said that religion was the opiate of the masses? These dopes have nothing else to protest? (dictatorships who keep the people poor, women kept as 2nd class citizens so these so called men can keep control. AND, THEY HAVE NO SENSE OF HUMOR!!! I loved the one about "no more virgins"... Did you hear how when the 19 hijackers got to where they thought the 72 virgins were to meet them, 1st George Washington,
then Patrick Henry, then Thomas Jefferson, then Woodrow Wilson, met them at the pearly gates & kicked the shit out of them. When Atta asked where were the virgins, St Peter said "no stupid, that was 72 VIRGINIANS!!!!

I digress with my own bad joke. Our rightwing asses would be as bad as they could. Our media, which lacks assets which you Michael have in abundance (appendage & attachments). Our media too. (lack same). The Brittany Spears episode of Will & Grace was supposed to have the pop-tart appearing as a reborn christian cook whose cooking style was called "Cruci-fixin. NBC removed it at the behest of the Christians!!!!

Also, they took off a show called "The Book of Daniel" starring Aiden Quinn as a liberal Anglican Priest with Christian Campbell as his gay son. (the priest popped oxycontin, and had visitations from Jesus. It was fun & could have taught some of our own narrowminded religious nuts something about tolerance, something NBC seems afraid of.

Also, Michael, did you hear how the US voted with Iran & Zimbawbe & some other choice repressive dictatorships to ban gays from the human rights council in the UN? I read in the Advocate that Barney Frank was going to chew Condi out about it.
(He'll probably find her in Manolo Blahniks!!!!

If God is around (notice the capital letter, I'm hhedging my bets), I wish he would shoot down a few choice lighting bolts at these fools. I'd love it, a contralto? Bass? voice booming "THAT'S NOT HOW I WANT THAT PLANET RUN, followed by pink lightning bolts shot at Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Moscow (for Putin), DC (for the Bushies), Belarus
Zimbabwe, Cuba & right straight at Wilmon, Robertson, Fallmouth (oops Well) & maybe one to Pope Heinrich.

Bye for now. If you're reading this NSA its funny.

Russ

Hi Michael:

Although I lurk here often, this is my first time commenting. This is another reason why I feel religion--any religion, no matter the flavor--is inherently evil. Were these cartoons in poor taste? Maybe. I'm just as tolerant as the next guy, however, if a few shitty cartoons can shake their society to it's core, then they have some serious fucking issues.

What do you expect. An immature reacion from an immature community fed on an immature religion. Its like the rise of christianity all over again. Welcome to the new dark ages.

Hi Michael:

You make a very good point when you express human concern for the well-being of crazed Muslims. It is indeed very sad that they could be living full and productive lives but choose instead to have unhealthy obsessions.

But, just as on the level of one mental patient, you can not let a paranoid schizophrenic violently rampage in public, Western leaders should be taking a much more aggressive ideological stance against this deranged group. Don't look now, but the Muslims have already limited our freedom of speech. And the worst part of that is that satire can often help people see the error of their ways a lot more efficiently than logical reasoning can.

What was I talking about in calling for "a much more aggressive ideological stance"? We should acknowledge and state out loud that what's often referred to as "radical Islam" is not just some fringe movement with a few deranged members. We need to acknowledge and state out loud that it is a collective insanity on the scale of Hitler's Nazis. We need to insist that those Muslims who claim to be about peace and light and tolerance organize themselves, state without equivocation that violent actions may not be carried out in the name of their religion, and that any Muslim who encourages or carries out violence will be ex-communicated. We should insist that those peaceful Muslims contribute money for massive re-education and de-extremization of the Muslim populations of the world. It is way past time for those Muslims who call themselves peace-loving and tolerant to take some responsibility for this situation, organize, and act. Why? Because they have far more credibility, talking about what their religion does and does not stand for than does a figure like Angela Merkel or Silvio Berlusconi.

And it is our duty as gay people to make sure that the rights of gay people in Muslim societies do not go completely ignored in the larger shuffle. The Muslims have in Israel and the United States a scapegoat for all of their problems; they should give up that line and clean up their house. And people who think that if Israel were surrendered, there would never again be problems from the Muslims for us are delusional.

What brillant commentary.....me being a hispanic, gay and jew...where's the tolerance in their respect of fellow man.

There is a time for understanding and compassion. There is a time for acceptance of other cultures differences. But there is also a time when the kid gloves need to come off. I think we have officially reached that time.

I am no fan of violence. However, not reacting in kind has sent a message to these cultures that they can get away with it. It has become painfully obvious that delivering speeches on "ending tyranny and terror" is doing a lot of good.

There is a reason why our flag for the past sixty years has not been white with a large red cricle in the center. Because we struck back. Gone are the days of militry spending with results. It is kind of like a boxing match. If you have no intention of hitting back, then don't even get in the ring.

Thanks for writing this, it was very interesting to read from a non-Nordic perspective. I actually had no idea that the leader of Hamas wanted the cartoonists decaptitated. That's just... *shakes head*

For someone who lives in southern Sweden this has become quite a terrifying situation. Who knows what's coming next?

Irshad Manji is Muslim, Lesbian and one of the most important voices in the Muslim reform movement.

http://www.muslim-refusenik.com/

Fascinating entry. I have to agree with you, Michael.

Australia has been cowed by this as only one newspaper would publish these cartoons. They claimed they won't publish them because we're living in a racially sensitive climate, especially in Sydney.

I think the Muslim took this too far, and it's up to us to tell them to take a chill pill.

I would have liked to see all 12 cartoons, still 2 is better than non, Jezus Secular Democratic activists have been fighting for freedom from judeo/christianity now to have to repeat it from the beginning with islam, when are secularists gonna start getting tough & stop being Mr nice guys, may be the times come to blow mosques, churches, synagogues of all these damned desert religions off the face of our beloved Earth?

Attention should be paid to this:

In protest against the famous "Mohammad cartoons," a Muslim group put a drawing on its web site showing Anne Frank and Hitler in a bed, with Hitler saying "Write this one in your diary, Anne."

Firstly, the satirical Mohammad cartoons point up serious moral failings in the behavior of Muslims. Does this "revenge" cartoon point up a serious moral failing on the part of Anne Frank?

More importantly, though, is that besides appearing on the web, the Anne Frank cartoon was reported on in the New York Times. Not one Jewish or Dutch person anywhere in the world has attacked people in the streets or manifested any other form of violent protest over the Anne Frank cartoon.

It's not as if the Muslims lack examples of civilized behavior on which they could model themselves.

I took a look at Irshad Manji's website, as recommended above in these Lucasblog comments by Jyl. I never for a minute thought that just because a human being was born into a Muslim family, it was not possible for them to rethink that culture's attitudes towards the rest of the human family. But if you look at the hate mail Irshad has received from fellow Muslims, you see how odious the backwards members of the faith are.

What's needed are leaders of Muslim countries with Irshad's Weltanschauung. Civilized peoples should be demanding exactly that, and backing up the demands with ultra-strict trade sanctions.

I have no sympathy for Muslim nations. I am of the opinion that we need to remove all bases from Saudi Arabia, and let them defend themselves! We must achieve energy independence. But alas, that will never happen under the current adminstration. I'm tired of America and Europe defending the rights of these extremists. It is time to revoke every Muslim's visa and send them back!!!! Islam is a cancer that must be eradicated from the West!

Michael,

Interesting letter in a paper called Express Times, out here in NW Jersey. The paper comes from Easton, Pa. In it, a writer expresses the opinion that our papers have self-censored themselves (as you said) by not printing the cartoons. There is in this same issue, however, a cartoon worth repeating. In it, a man with a pencil behind his ear, carrying a sheet of paper is walking down the street. A cop is holding back a crowd of people, yelling "stand back, he's carrying a political cartoon."

In the same paper, Trudy Rubin, an editoral columnist, wrote a column on the subject. In it, she quotes a Jordanian journalist, Jihad Momani. He says "What brings more predjudice against Islam, these caricatures, or pictures of a hostage taker slashing the throat of of victim in front of the cameras or a suicide bomber?" Of course, he was fired by his editors. And Jordan is one of the more "liberal" countries in the middle east.

It's good to see European newspaper have the guts to print the cartoons. Wish our papers had the same.

Russ

Michael,

If publishing these extremely offensive caricatures is "freedom of speech" and not "abusing the freedom of speech", then the reaction of the Muslim world is rightly "freedom of expression"... Freedom of speech/expression is not a licence to attack a culture or religion. Many European countries are banned from publishing anything Nazi related. Howcome, everyone has accepted this lack of freedom of speech there.

U-

Hi michael. Im a great fan of your blog. so when i was reading this, it saddens me a bit but its ok. You have no obligations to treat this subject delicately but me, as a more fortunate gay muslim feels the need to explain.

as a gay muslim living in a more liberal (yet still having Islam as their main religion) country, i can only say this. the reactions to the cartoon is wrong and i totally do not condone it. you have stupid people who are insecure almost everywhere in this world, especially in some the arab nations & the deserts, where its pretty much lawless to begin with. people push their own agenda as religion, that is so wrong. and the worst is, you have the entire community who have continued on living like that to set example. its more cultural than religious. ive been a muslim all my life and never has islam encouraged this sort of violence. its all human interpetation. i do not join the collective thinking, but im still of my faith.

the cartoon itself also should not have made it into the papers either. it is very offensive for us as it shows no respect. its a big rule in our religion that there should be no face to Muhammad so that no one could claim resemblance, or a reborn, or anything as such in the future. Like imagine someone claiming he is the new Jesus because he looks like the photos and started a new suicidal cult. What if Charles Manson looked like the picture of Jesus, what destruction that would have lead to. The rule has been respected for ages and to suddenly have it popped up is really to disrespect it, and to portray it in negative light is even worse. If anything, the muslim world should have demanded apology for it, not violence, but it looks like they believe actions are louder than words.

my apologies as a muslim for the stupidity but i would like to express regret for the cartoon too. imagine if someone did a cartoon showing Jesus as a rapist or a pedophile. Its uncalled for and very disrespectful. Its just wrong. Imagine the uproar. Imagine that it came out in a gay newspaper. And thousands of hicks starts to shoot gay bar not because its religious, but its just people tagging on something to push their own agenda. Watch whether people say its justified or not. Thats how bad this simple cartoon is. It shouldnt have been there. It leads to nothing but allowing stupid people means to violence.

I saw that picture of the Jewish stars incorporated with Nazi logo that they posted later which I thought was very insensitive & disrespectful to the whole Holocaust experience. Im glad that the international jewish community are smarter and not resorting to violence.

I think there is more ways to find peace than mocking eachother like this. Its such sandbox mentality. People really do need to grow up.

My salute to you for having a say in this and wanting the gay community to at least have a voice in this issue.

Blaming all Muslims for the actions of a few is wrong! By doing so, you dehumanize them into a subhuman mass, devoid of individual souls.

How long ago was it that Western countries burned innocent people at the stake because they were considered witches?

Wasn't it just a few short years ago that Matthew Shepard was lynched for being gay?

Wasn't it also a few years ago that James Byrd was dragged to death behind a pickup truck for just being an African American?

Wasn't it just a few days ago that several homeless people were beaten to death by a couple of rich, white teens?

Pretending that we are better or more civilized is a joke. We are just as "primitive" and cruel as the next guy.

Michael Lucas, your home country of Russia is scary in its abuse of minorites whether sexual, religious, or "racial." How many Jews were butchered in the Pogroms? During Stalins reign, how many innocent Russians and Ukranians were slaughtered or starved to death by Stalin? History says 30 million.

Mao killed 30 to 40 million.

The United States enslaved millions of humans because of their skin color (Africans) and committed genocide against others (Native Americans).

Yes, the extremist Muslims are wrong; but it's just as wrong to dehumanize them all into an unthinking mass. Outside your window, there are people who consider you just as lowly because you have sex with other men.

Mao killed

There are some really good points made here.

I believe that these kinds of situations (such as the Cartoon Riots) will only continue to multiply and the safety and well being of our world will continously be jeopardized by Muslim extremists who will stop at nothing but death and more violence.

It's extremely sad to see that entire societies are bred to hate democracy, Christianity, Judaism and so on. If these people only saw that we, as a human race, are so much more alike than different and would not constantly create more and more divisions and differences to further divide us our world would be a much better place.

Agree with me or not, Michael, only societies that are more true to Christian theology are less prone to hatred and pointless division amongst their peoples.