Friday, February 03, 2006

Oh Grow Up

Have you been watching the news and seeing all the outrage about the Danish cartoons offending the Muslim religion? Have you wondered what all the flap was about? Well look no further. I, who take my blogging duty seriously, have done in depth research and spent countless minutes looking to find exactly what cartoon it was that was so freaking offensive as to spark millions of Muslim citizens around the world to throw temper tantrums (or hissy fits, whichever phrase you prefer).

The Picture.

After you look at this you should probably gouge your eyeballs out with a sharp stick in repentance.

As an added bonus, I have also found other toons. Some are, I have to admit, kind of funny. You probably should look quick before they are removed from the server since we're all being censored.

This one...

This one. Is it just me or do those girls look like they should be in a Disney movie?

This one which wasn't so funny, but as I understand Muslim beliefs, is just as offensive....

This one (which I just don't get)...

This one, which is, I must admit, rather insulting...

This one...

This one, which completely cracked me up... and

This one which I think is rather nicely done for a toon.

Okay, now you know. I have risked a jihad to show these to you.

The funniest thing about the whole episode is that if the Muslim communities hadn't gotten so upset, hadn't protested anything that moved over these cartoons, most of the world would have no clue they existed.

What I really want to know is how do we know these toons aren't about Muhammed Smith, who lives on the next block, and NOT the prophet?

8 comments:

mark robert allen said...

as compasionate humans, we have to respect others beliefs and traditions. however, fundamentalist islam i feel, is imposing, restrictive and doens't allow for compassion of other religion, thoughts, beliefs or customs.

i think this is just another example of why there is so much fear and hatred for the islamic religion.

they're not doing themselves any favours.

Deb said...

You are exactly right.. they aren't doing themselves any favors, but for some reason they don't see it that way. They seem to come across as wanting to convert everyone to their way of thinking through fear and intimidation. It doesn't work, it just causes rebellion and resentment.

Sassan Sanei said...

I'm pretty sure Pat Robertson would be equally outraged if Jesus were depicted negatively in a cartoon. Intolerance and suppression of freedom of speech is not unique to Islam, but exists among the radical elements of ALL religions.

The cartoons were pretty offensive to a lot of people, and it was not necessary to offend those people in order to make whatever point was being made.

With freedom of speech comes the responsibility not to abuse that freedom by making sweeping stereotypical generalizations about other ethnic and religious groups.

THAT SAID...

I have to say to the people rioting in the streets and setting embassies on fire: lighten up!! For Christ's sake, or whoever's sake, it's just a bunch of stupid cartoons printed in an unknown Danish newspaper. It's not the western world declaring jihad on your collective asses.

Your reactions are being seen by many as legitimizing the demonization of your religion.

Don't you see how ironic and hypocritical it is to call for the death of a cartoonist for depicting a religion as violent?

Both sides are wrong, and my opinion is the only right one.

Sheesh, some people...

Deb said...

Let me see.. how many offensive cartoons have I seen about the Christian religion? LOADS. How many embassies has Pat Robertson (or any other Christian for that matter) burned in response?

There ya go.

Deb said...

Oh, and just FYI.. the reason the Muslim people are so outraged is because depicting the visage of Muhammed is blasphemous. Doesn't matter the context, its just not allowed, ever.

Sassan Sanei said...

Um. Pat Robertson did call for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, the democratically-elected president of Venezuela, last year. Video clip here:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200508220006

Every religion has its violent, extremist nutcases, and those whackjobs don't represent the majority of the followers of that religion.

Like when Jerry Falwell blamed the September 11 attacks on "the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians" making God mad.Pat Robertson's response: "I totally concur."

I'm pretty sure that most Christians are good people who do not feel that Pat Robertson speak for them. :)

I think there is quite a bit more to the rioting than the cartoons. I think that the cartoons were simply a trigger that caused a lot of long-simmering tensions to boil over.

Remember in 1992, riots broke out in L.A. after the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King? The acquittal may have been the trigger, but the real issue was years of police intimidation and violence against black suspects.

The L.A. riots weren't about Rodney King, but about what he represented. If the beating of Rodney King were an isolated incident, riots would never have broken out in L.A.

Similarly, the current riots are not about the cartoons, but about what they represent: widespread vilification of Muslims, over the actions of a few extremists, by the western world.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not defending the rioting and the violence - but this goes WAY deeper than some stupid cartoons. They weren't even funny. (Okay, the one where terrorists are being turned away from heaven because they ran out of virgins was pretty funny.)

The irony is that the violence and rioting really just reinforces the negative depictions that the cartoons put forward in the first place. :(

Deb said...

Pat Robertson may have called for it, but you didn't see any Christians making a rush to do it.

I'll give you my take on the subject (not that it matters to anyone but me).

I believe in God. I believe God is a merciful and loving God. I do not believe, however, that organized religion is beneficial to many people. It has caused as much damage as the good it has done. That applies to ANY organized religion, not just Christianity or Muslim. There are too many hypocrites, too many people who think they are better than the next person because THEY go to such and such church, or they believe in such and such God. Too many people that think that a non-believer can be bullied into believing the way they think they should.

The events of the past few days are just classic examples.

I don't personally know anyone who is Muslim, but I wish I did so I could get their take on it (a normal Muslim, not a fanatical Muslim).

Sassan Sanei said...

I think that most moderate Muslims would be more offended at the rioting that is taking place than they would be at the cartoons. They would tell you that violence is more offensive to the principles of Islam than a caricature of their prophet.

Of course, pictures of peaceful disagreement are not what make the front page of USA Today. :)