The recent uproar over the Muslim/Mohammed cartoons that appeared in a Danish Newspaper have inspired a great (apparently) debate (apparently) among those ever watchful guardians of our souls, the media. Having seen these cartoons, we are of two minds.
The first, centers around the Philadelphia Inquirer’s decision to post those cartoons on its website. The immediate question comes to mind: Why? They justify it by stating: “The Inquirer intends no disrespect to the religious beliefs of any of its readers. But when a use of religious imagery that many find offensive becomes a major news story, we believe it is important for readers to be able to judge the content of the image for themselves, as with the 1987 photograph by Andres Serrano of a crucifix in urine. On that basis we reprint this cartoon.”
Hello! It should be obvious by now, even to the editors of the Inquirer, that these cartoons ARE disrespectful to those of the Muslim faith. So was the repulsive Serrano filth. But they’ll leave the judgement of that up to their readers.
Hello! The Inquirer says it will reprint the cartoons, yet their link takes you to the Brussels Journal. Anyone who wanted to see the cartoons could just as easily done a search for them and found their way to the same site. But the Inquirer found it essential to posture their way through this lame excuse for a rationalization to present something to you that will stimulate most, disenchant many, and repulse even more. Many will look at the images and think, “Right on!”. Nevertheless, it should not be up to the Philadelphia Inquirer to decide if you should see these cartoons. Nor was it right for the Inquirer to show, give voice to, tout, or otherwise encourage a sick pseudo-artist like Serrano by pandering to him and giving him a place in the sun.
In doing both, they have once again crossed the boundaries of good taste, common sense and respect. Yes, newspapers, and their staffs should have such ethics and mores, and should be cognizant of them at all times. This should apply to the mainstream media, as well. Their coverage over the past 18 months of the ugly face of the Democratic national leadership has been good for the Republicans, and bad for the Democrats. Nevertheless, it creates a false dichotomy that seriously does damage to many of our most revered institutions. The media should not cover these behaviors, out of respect for the individuals exhibiting it, out of respect for the people and institutions being attacked, and out of a respect for the audience. These are common sense, and good taste ethics.
The other side of the coin regarding the cartoons is actually in defense of them. In essence, the Muslim community has no one to blame but themselves. They have drawn down upon themselves the ire, and disgust of the western world by their behaviors around the world. The actions of Al Queda, the Taliban, and Hamas, in particular, are heinous, reprehensible and crimes against humanity.
Here is what the Brussels Journal has to say was the reason for the original publication: “The newspaper published the cartoons when a Danish author complained that he could find no-one to illustrate his book about Muhammad. Jyllands-Posten [the Danish newspaper that originally published the cartoons] wondered whether there were more cases of self-censorship regarding Islam in Denmark and asked twelve illustrators to draw the prophet for them. Carsten Juste, the paper’s editor, said the cartoons were a test of whether the threat of Islamic terrorism had limited the freedom of expression in Denmark.”
The result was an expression of how Islam and the Muslim world is perceived in Western eyes. It is not the fault of those western eyes that causes the perception to be this way. Indeed, it is the actions of the thousands of Islamicists who gather in the street, riot, fire off guns, all in protest of the results of a democratically held election. It is the fault of the murdering members of Al Qaeda, in all its forms, who hide in cowardly fashion and behead westerners – men and women alike, who have done them no harm, indeed, who have been helping them. It is the fault of the Taliban who’s regime was so repressive, women went underground just to get their hair done. It is the fault of the fundamentalists who should, instead, be called zealots; those same zealots who elect repressive fundamentalist regimes such as Iran, and those who tolerate such regimes like Syria. Anyone why says the Saudis are our friends needs a serious attitude adjustment. They, the Kuwaitis, the Emirates, and the Jordanians are only our friends as long as we do two things: use our military to prop up their totalitarian regimes, and buy their oil at exorbitant prices. It is those two premises that have kept Israel alive since 1948. We do those things because it helps to stabilize the area, and it provides us with a full oil import capacity (and that makes those who we prop up in power very, very wealthy).
Finally, and especially, it is the fault of the Mullahs, for they are the ones who encourage all of the above, and tell their followers it is not a sin to murder innocents, and those who are trying to provide assistance to the people of the Middle East. And those Mullahs are not confined to the Middle East. You will find them in Europe (who do you think was inciting the young Muslims in France to riot last November?), and in the United States, as well as in South Asia, and Southeast Asia. To the Mullahs, it is Jihad – holy war. Unless there is a rapid movement in the ranks of the Mullahs around the world, this will go on, and on for decades. It is not Israel, but Infidels (including Israel) they seek to destroy. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 23rd Crusade. The Muslims are showing up, but darn few of us Infidels are.
They have no one to blame but themselves, principally their Mullahs, for the cartoons they got. Remember back to the afternoon of 9/11/2001, when the footage started coming in from the Palestinians, showing them dancing in the streets in celebration of the death and destruction wrought by Al Qaeda. They do not just hate us, they want us dead, violently, as soon as possible. All of us.
And that will issue in a dark age the like of which the world has never seen. I am not too worried about the cartoons. The Muslims should be, however, as it signals a rising tide of resentment and animosity toward people of their faith. They might just get their 23rd Crusade. But it won’t be like any of the previous 22.
THE CENTRIST
"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. "
--Albert Einstein
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