Insensitivity
February 20th, 2006 at 4:35 am (General, International Politics, Media, Religion)
Much uproar, violence and debate has been caused by the publication of 12 cartoon depictions of Muhammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
I have seen the cartoons and I must say I totally empathize with the cries of protest.
First, Muhammad is a sacred and very much revered prophet of the Muslims. And part of their reverence is their condemnation of idolatry including the visual depiction of Muhammad and Allah. Christians might see this as an extreme form of reverence but to the Muslims it is what they believe in. And it should be respected. If Muhammad’s followers themselves are prohibited from visually depicting him, we should respect that no ifs, no buts.
Second, I do not think that it is a matter of censorship. People who argue that the main issue is censorship are simply insensitive or avoiding the real issue. The main issue here is respect, no more, no less. The Muslims take their religion, their beliefs and religious tenets seriously. And nobody has the right to desecrate them. How would Christians react if somebody depicted Jesus Christ or the Pope in a disrespectful and offensive manner?
Third, it was blown out of proportion not by the protesters but by the insensitive media who instead of hearing the protests, had the gall to re-print the offensive material. The situation was already volatile, and yet insensitive (and probably publicity-hungry) people exploited it.
Apologies are in order. More importantly, a greater and more accepting understanding of the Islam faith is in order.
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