The Behavior of Cartoons

Miscreants armed with the righteous wrath of Allah, that oh so peace-loving deity, burned the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus last week. This followed days of demonstrations where the flags of those countries were burned. Apparently one has to work oneself up to major acts of arson. In the event that you have been hiding under your bed for the last week the reason was thus: a series of political cartoons, printed last month in Denmark, depicted the Prophet Muhammad in a less than charitable light. Well, that is not quite accurate. Allegedly any depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, or any other prophet for that matter, is blasphemous. We can, therefore, assume that it is only a matter of time before Rolling Stone's offices are burned due to Kanye West's recent cover appearance in the guise of Jesus Christ.

Now lest you begin to think that I am soon to be up in arms about Kanye, rest assured I care not. I am an avowed agnostic. No, what causes me angst is the disingenuous nature of the supposedly pious leaders of the Islamic faith. They complain bitterly of the defilement of the prophet's likeness, while turning a blind eye to the depiction of Jews, published all over the Middle East in ostensibly reputable journals, as cannibalistic blood-drinkers. Not one indignant voice was raised when the Bamiyan Buddhas were dynamited by that oh so pious group, the Taliban. No religious leader castigates Saudi Arabia for putting to death anyone who converts to a religion other than Islam. No fingers are wagged, in that inimitable Arab way, when women are forced to wear burkhas under penalty of death. Most tellingly, not one imam, mullah or self-appointed Islamic holy man stepped forward to publicly condemn the actions of 19 men who flew planes into buildings on 9/11. Those actions were a direct response to a murderous call to kill infidels in the name of the Prophet Muhammad, and Islam was largely silent.

The cartoons, in case you could not actually see them, showed the prophet in various roles. One had his turban replaced by a fused bomb of the sort Natasha and Boris routinely threw at Bullwinkle. Another had his holiness in Heaven informing suicide bombers that he had temporarily run out of virgins. There were others, but you get the gist. The fact that these were political cartoons meant to stimulate dialogue, much like the Washington Post's depiction of a quad-amputee serviceman, was apparently lost on the Arab street. No, this was proof of the Western world's perfidy, righted only by profuse apologies from the heads of government, and changes in laws that would prevent future transgressions. Bridges from west to east, it seems, are in need of construction.

Why these bridges need to be constructed solely by the West remains a mystery. Apparently, Islam, having had the good fortune to arrive last amongst the world's major religions, has no room for improvement. Non-Arab women being forced to wear head coverings while in the Arab world, under penalty of assault, sexual and otherwise, is evidently what is meant by "Islam is a religion of tolerance and peace." Wild celebrations in Lebanon, Syria, and elsewhere on 9/12/01 were, I presume, nothing more than expressions of grief that the words of the prophet had been corrupted in such a detestable way. Yes, the poor, downtrodden adherents of a 6th century bloodthirsty, power-hungry brigand are doing nothing more than peacefully requesting their place at the world's table when they blow themselves up in Tel Aviv, while on a bus crowded with women and children.

Unfortunately, all too many will see these actions as just nothing more than the powerless using the only weapons at their disposal in order to call attention to their plight. We, as a nation, have already largely forgotten that all 19 hijackers on 9/11 shared a deep, abiding faith in a strict interpretation of the Qu'ran. We, as Americans, want to think that their actions were aberrations, not the actions or thoughts of the rank and file. We, desperately, want to believe that Islam is a noble religion of peace and tolerance. Actions speak louder than words though, and there have not even been words. Until the professed silent majority of the Muslim world rises up, shakes off the shackles of the murderous legions like Hamas, which was recently elected to office, and bin Laden, we can only conclude that either their silence is tacit complicity, or else they simply do not exist.