The Cartoon Controversy
Protests over the depiction of Prophet Muhammad in cartoon strips continue around the world. The Danish mission in Beirut was torched a day after the Danish and Norwegian missions in Damascus suffered a similar fate. Iran has cut off all trade ties with Denmark and the row shows no signs of abating.
The 12 cartoons at the center of controversy were published on 30 September 2005 by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. These show the prophet Muhammad in a variety of humorous or satirical situations. Some of the cartoons are fairly benign whereas others are very provocative. One of the cartoons shows the Prophet wearing a lit bomb decorated with the Muslim declaration of faith instead of a turban. Benign or not, the cartoons attracted the ire of Muslims because Islamic tradition explicitly forbids any depiction of Allah or the Prophet.
The Danish government has apologized for the offense caused by the cartoons but it has also defended the freedom of expression in media. The reaction of other Western governments has been similarly restrained and nuanced. The controversy is problematic for Western governments – they are keen to avoid another confrontation where they are seen as attacking Islam. The economic impact of the incident on Denmark itself is likely to be minimal but the psychological impact may turn out to be much more significant. The Danes see themselves as a peace-loving nation and they are not used to seeing Danish flags being burnt around the world. There are fears that the furor over the cartoons may lead to terrorist attacks on Danish soil and retaliation against Danish troops in Iraq.
The controversial cartoons themselves are symbolic of greater fault lines in the West and in the East. The tendency to use religion as a tool for mass manipulation, as means towards achieving political ends is age old; its use is certainly not restricted to the Muslim world. (The very successful guns, gods, and gays strategy used by Republicans in US is one example that is often overlooked in presence of more obvious choices such as Iran and Sudan.)
Excessive political correctness has forced uncomfortable (and yet essential) discussions about race, religion, immigration, and many other issues underground in most Western societies. These topics cannot be discussed politely by polite people; they have become the exclusive realm of the radical groups on the right and therefore subservient to ideologies based on fear and exclusion.
In many countries in the Middle East, repressive regimes use religion to hide a multitude of national and societal problems such as chronic unemployment, poverty, corruption and non-representative governments. Protests, such as the current ones, are utilized as valves to release tensions and keep a restive population at bay.
The publication of these cartoons is an ideal opportunity to discuss religion, religious stereotypes, and cultural diversity on a national and global level. It may be easier in the short term to minimize the fallout from the cartoons by ignoring the larger issues, but in the long term it can only lead to disastrous results. The situation calls for courage on part of the West and the East – the courage to support freedom of expression and religion*, courage that its leaders seem to lack.
* freedom of religion being the ability to follow one’s religious beliefs without imposing them on non-believers
Links:
Cartoon Row Timeline - BBC
The Escalating Cartoon Clash -Time
Iran Paper Strikes Back - BBC
Your Taboo, Not Mine - Andrew Sullivan
Tags:
Mohammed Cartoon, Denmark
The 12 cartoons at the center of controversy were published on 30 September 2005 by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. These show the prophet Muhammad in a variety of humorous or satirical situations. Some of the cartoons are fairly benign whereas others are very provocative. One of the cartoons shows the Prophet wearing a lit bomb decorated with the Muslim declaration of faith instead of a turban. Benign or not, the cartoons attracted the ire of Muslims because Islamic tradition explicitly forbids any depiction of Allah or the Prophet.
The Danish government has apologized for the offense caused by the cartoons but it has also defended the freedom of expression in media. The reaction of other Western governments has been similarly restrained and nuanced. The controversy is problematic for Western governments – they are keen to avoid another confrontation where they are seen as attacking Islam. The economic impact of the incident on Denmark itself is likely to be minimal but the psychological impact may turn out to be much more significant. The Danes see themselves as a peace-loving nation and they are not used to seeing Danish flags being burnt around the world. There are fears that the furor over the cartoons may lead to terrorist attacks on Danish soil and retaliation against Danish troops in Iraq.
The controversial cartoons themselves are symbolic of greater fault lines in the West and in the East. The tendency to use religion as a tool for mass manipulation, as means towards achieving political ends is age old; its use is certainly not restricted to the Muslim world. (The very successful guns, gods, and gays strategy used by Republicans in US is one example that is often overlooked in presence of more obvious choices such as Iran and Sudan.)
Excessive political correctness has forced uncomfortable (and yet essential) discussions about race, religion, immigration, and many other issues underground in most Western societies. These topics cannot be discussed politely by polite people; they have become the exclusive realm of the radical groups on the right and therefore subservient to ideologies based on fear and exclusion.
In many countries in the Middle East, repressive regimes use religion to hide a multitude of national and societal problems such as chronic unemployment, poverty, corruption and non-representative governments. Protests, such as the current ones, are utilized as valves to release tensions and keep a restive population at bay.
The publication of these cartoons is an ideal opportunity to discuss religion, religious stereotypes, and cultural diversity on a national and global level. It may be easier in the short term to minimize the fallout from the cartoons by ignoring the larger issues, but in the long term it can only lead to disastrous results. The situation calls for courage on part of the West and the East – the courage to support freedom of expression and religion*, courage that its leaders seem to lack.
* freedom of religion being the ability to follow one’s religious beliefs without imposing them on non-believers
Links:
Cartoon Row Timeline - BBC
The Escalating Cartoon Clash -Time
Iran Paper Strikes Back - BBC
Your Taboo, Not Mine - Andrew Sullivan
Tags:
Mohammed Cartoon, Denmark
posted by Sahil at 7:54 PM
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