Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Worldwide Riots over a cartoon?

Muslims protesting depictions of Muhammed

I'm surprised no one has picked up on this yet. What is your reaction to this story?

Andrew

I think they all need to chill the heck out.

I've been pretty pissed over Garfield a time or two.

I think it was pretty stupid on the newspaper's part, since:

1) It's well-known that pictoral representations of any kind of Mohammed is a religious taboo in Islam (despite the existance of tasteful representations frafted over the centuries that have gone convienently unnoticed) and

2) The majority of Muslims aren't too apt to "get" Western attempts at humor or satire, especially those in areas where a grade-school education is like having a PhD here in the US...

Any idiot should have been able to discern that this would cause an uproar. I personally thought it was rather funny and marginally appropriate, but I'm about as PC as a Playboy pinup at a daycare facility.

C'mon, the Middle East is famous for their sense of humor!

i was pretty shocked myself when i heard about it. I mean i have never heard of any muslims making silly cartoons about other religions (or maybe they have but i doubt it). PLus this was bound to happen, muslim people dont react well to these sorta things, i dont know why everyones surprised on the way many muslims are acting..they all knew this would happen..it was like putting a foot into a lions mouth..

and then other countries took it and posted it in their papers, thats just a slap in the face, very very low IMHO

Here's my reaction. On one hand, I can understand the outrage over the cartoons, as I have had the same feelings occasionally, being as I am a pretty strong Christian.

On the other hand though, I don't understand the violent reaction, especially against the Danish embassies. I could see maybe demonstrating or picketing the newspaper offices, but not breaking in and burning down buildings of embassies that really had nothing to do with publishing the cartoons.

In my opinion, I think this points out some fundamental flaws with Islam, one that is evident in the reaction against the embassies.

To my understanding, Islam is not just a religious system, it is a political system as well. It seeks to take over the government of nations and run them according to Islamic law. I think this is the reason they are reacting against the governments in this situation. They don't see the separation between the governments and the press, because of their religion.

Another flaw is the inherent violence of Islam. I know that there are moderate people in the Islamic world, actually probably the majority of the Islamic world. But the violence is inherent in the convert or die mentality handed down by Mohammed after his death. This leads to a violence that, if they are being completely true to the teachings of their faith, they cannot get rid of without totally changing their faith.

MHO