Hello all,

An interesting and finely balanced situation now.

This sort of reaction (and particularily if some one gets injured or killed) only reinforces the message behind the cartoons....these guys are doing themselves no favours...I amean are they gonna go after the German, French, British...etc embassies as well.

I think it will only generate more cartoons and inflame the situation and stereotyping even more.

On the other hand...muslims must save the honour of the prophet...and they react the only way they know how....but what are they to do?

I think the worst thing for us muslims here is knowing who to fight over this ....and how to fight....and perhaps fight is the wrong word...react perhaps is better....

My opinion....Just as the police is not above the law...so no one is above caricature....however keep a sense of proportion please.

Muslims MUST learn to laugh at themselves if they are to survive this onslaught...in the longer term it will toughen them up mentally....this is a test Allah (swt) has set for ....can you pass it?

Posted by: Naseem at February 3, 2006 6:51 AM

Naseem,

You're right about it being a test. It's not a test from Allah. The Jyllans-Posten decided to break a "rule" to see the reaction.

"...what are they to do?"

Ignore it or write an angry e-mail. That's what we do when someone offends our beliefs. Freedom is only meaningful if it includes the freedom to offend.

What's most amazing about this controversy is the EU, UN, Bill Clinton, and world media striking a blow for Muslim theocracy. This was a clear-cut example of modernity v. primitive superstitions. The global community favors primitive superstitions. The EU and UN, in particular, need to explain their anti-freedom stance on the cartoons.

Posted by: Beagle at February 3, 2006 7:19 AM

"I think the worst thing for us muslims here is knowing who to fight over this ....and how to fight....and perhaps fight is the wrong word...react perhaps is better...."

Yes Nazeem, "fight" is the wrong word, but your use of it certainly illustrates your mindset.

Just do what you and your co-religionists usually do Nazeem, fight everybody.........forever.

Posted by: Anthony at February 3, 2006 7:34 AM

Maybe the muslims of the world should file a class action lawsuit against the West? Then when they win this suit we can pay them reparations (jizyah). With the reparations they will have more money to finance muslim charities (Hezbollah, Hama, Al Queda).

Posted by: JanuaryMan at February 3, 2006 8:04 AM

Naseem:

It's pretty hard to "save the honour" of someone who has been revealed to be a meglomaniacal psychopath who has inspired other psychopaths.

And far more important than spurring the publication of the original 12 cartoons and others of the same sort, this insane show of indignation over something so incredibly banal is only going to spur the rest of the world and the saner elements in Muslim society to take an honest look at what Islam really is and it ain't a very pretty picture.

Posted by: waterdragon52 at February 3, 2006 8:14 AM

Go, Denmark!!! Don't cave to these violent egomaniacs, who think they are so superior to the rest of the world that, WE are obligated to follow THEIR rules.

"On the other hand...muslims must save the honour of the prophet...and THEY REACT THE ONLY WAY THEY KNOW HOW....but what are they to do?"

This reminds me of a 4 year-old who hits & bites when a playmate takes a favorite toy, because they "don't know any better". The difference is that the 4 year-old will mature & learn other methods of conflict resolution.

Muslims need to grow up & start acting like mature, responsible adults.

Posted by: finnschick at February 3, 2006 8:26 AM

Naseem,

A major difference in the reactions between the Islamic and Christian worlds
is that Christians react with outrage and complaint but not the armed presence,
the vandalism, the death threats. Our faithful realize that Jesus
is far above any cartoon or criticism of anyone on earth, and by doing so, they
are only harming themselves. The childish over-reaction of the seemingly
entire Islamic world is chilling and even you seem to realize how bad it is. Maybe
you should take a closer look at your entire religion?

Posted by: NoMo at February 3, 2006 9:34 AM

Denmark is on the mark! The media has public permission to comment, both negative and positive, on Christian belief and faith. The media has a limited amount of room to comment on the Jewish faith. How dare the media comment on the Islamic faith and the jihad which is now taking place. Ooops, did I say jihad? That should get some of the Islamics hot under the collar. What do the Islamic community want? How are they prepared to get it? How far will they go? Let's face it, anyone willing to strap TNT on to their body, walk into a "target area" and blow up not only themselves but innocent people as well, will do anything to reach their goal. The freedom that democratic counties enjoy must be protected, at all costs. Long Live Freedom

Posted by: us_conservative at February 3, 2006 10:43 AM

Top-rated American television shows (not to mention British television shows) over the years (such as The Simpsons, South Park, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien watched by millions of people) have had outrageously blasphemous jokes and skits about Christians, Jesus, Moses, the Bible, and even God Himself. The West has never seen Christians react to these shows in the psychotically childish fashion which Muslims have reacted to these cartoons which are far, far, far, far less insulting than those American shows. This demonstrates the health and strength of Western Christians, and of the civilizational fabric of the West itself.

Posted by: Dr. Pepper at February 3, 2006 11:03 AM

Read these links about how Mohammad ordered the killing of mere critics and satirists. This is Islam we're seeing folks, no apologetics.

see http://www.answering-islam.org/Muhammad/Enemies/index.html

http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/free_speech.htm

http://answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/dead_poets.htm

Because the Koran states that Mohammad is an example that (male) believers should emulate (33:21), the killing of critics and satirists of Islam is obligatory.

Posted by: Archimedes at February 3, 2006 2:30 PM

Boy! I'm sure glad my Government stepped up to the tune of $1,000,000,000 in aid, and that the American people coughed up another $1,000,000,000,000 in charitable contributions to help all those "moderate" Muslims in Indonesia !!!

and

Boy! I'm sure glad the "hearts and minds" campaign is working so well in places like Pakistan and Indonesia after the tsunami and the earthquake !!!

and

Boy! I'm sure glad there are so many "moderate" Muslims out there fighting along with us and against the "radical" Muslims, and condemning the excesses of the "perverters of Islam", and rioting whenever one of the misunderstanders of Islam beheads someone, or blows someone up, or slits someones throat, or sets someone on fire, or uses broken glass shards to remove a girl's clitoris, or stones an adulterer to death, or topples a wall on a homosexual, or tosses same off a cliff, or shoves a crippled Jew in a wheelchair off the back of the cruise ship, or flies a plane loaded with families and children and average everyday people into the ocean/skyscrapers,government buildings/lonely fields in Pennsylvania, takes children hostage in their school on the first school day and then rigs explosives, takes over a theatre and makes all the people shit in the orchestra, staps bombs onto themself and blows up a bunch of teenagers at a disco, straps a bomb onto themself and blows up and American serviceperson, and altogether gives Islam an undeserved bad image in the popular consciousness of the world...

Posted by: jsla at February 3, 2006 3:49 PM

Members of jihad watch may find this article from Washington times interesting:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060202-111835-3132r.htm

It discusses King Abdullah's presentation to evangelical Christians. The King here is calling for all moderates to unite to fight terrorism, similar to what the ex president of Indonesia did.
Presumeably, then, there are moderates out there, and this is inconsitent with the jihadist- monolitihic characterization of Muslims that posters here often make

Posted by: Dhimmiwatch in Canada at February 3, 2006 4:54 PM

Dear Dhimmiwatch in Canada: To quote from his statements as represented in the article you cited:

"...we confront extremism in its myriad forms"

and

"Terrorist attacks," he said, are "an attack upon civilization," not a "clash of civilizations" between Christianity and Islam. Terrorist groups "do not preach the Islam of the Koran or of the prophet Muhammad. Theirs is a repugnant political ideology which violates the principles and statutes of traditional Islamic law."

That's all well and good, but once again we see a Muslim "leader" saying this tired out material to a room full of Christians and Jews -- When is he going to take on the millions upon millions upon millions of "radicals" in Islam who are utilizing the Muslim weapon of terrorism?

I'd feel a lot better if he, and every other Muslim "moderate" spent a fraction of their time convincing their Muslim brethren of the error of their ways, and the exact manner in which they are "misinterpreting" the Koran, rather than standing up in safe crowds of "infidels" and laying it on thick with the trowel...

You say "Presumeably, then, there are moderates out there, and this is inconsitent with the jihadist- monolitihic characterization of Muslims that posters here often make"

Why "presumably?" At this point, 5 years after 9/11, and the Muslim world appearing more "radicalized" and energized towards Jihad than ever before -- with Iran openly calling for Israel's extermination, and their greed for nuclear weapons, with UBL being one of the most popular figures in the Islamic world today -- I don't presume anything about "moderation" and Muslims, or "moderation" and Islam...

Posted by: jsla at February 3, 2006 9:52 PM

The muslim reaction to the cartoons really doesn't scare me, it comforts me.
What are we up against here? Certainly not rocket scientists.
It's all maths. If you piss off enough people you end up with the crap kicked out of you.
Where I live the muslims are on borrowed time. It seems likely that nowhere else is different. It doesn't really matter what your politics or religion is, if you annoy enough people with big guns.
The maths is with the West.
More brains, bombs, guns.
The Islamic world seems to be ruled by intellectual midgets who play bad poker.
See Iran for example.
Surely they don't think anyone is going to allow nuclear suicide bombers, especially the Israeli's?
All the cartoons have done is made more people aware that Islam is on the road to nowhere.
If Westerners were filled with a fraction of this stupid fervour against muslims, the muslims would be glass on the desert sands.
The maths suggests it won't be long now.

Posted by: realist at February 5, 2006 11:22 AM