The Prophet Uproar

Ok, now that you all know what this post is going to be about, let's get it started. The main issue of the last month has been the drawings of the Prophet Muhammad, done in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten , back in September. The main issues are that in the Muslim religion, you cannot recreate the image of the Prophet for fear of idolotry, and freedom of speech in the newspapers, including the right to offend.

I consider myself to be quite far left of center, if i had to define myself in this method. Inherent in the leftist leaning of mine, then, is automatic criticism of those in power when there is a conflict, either between nations, between the nation and its people, or even between the police and citizens. I realize that I am a product of western society, and I believe that we must have been part of the problem, and question what can we do to fix it. This thought ranges from the homeless asking for money in the streets of Calgary, to the disastrous state of our aboriginal peoples, and abroad to western relations and the results of these relations in other parts of the world. I think that we are guilty of exploitation, arrogance and greed, and most times I will argue and try to demonstrate that point...we are to blame.

The same could be said for the Prophet controversy...initially. Ok, the western papers have the right to print offensive material...that is their right, and they used it. Now, the Muslims of the world have the right to demonstrate. The mistake that so many are making, however, is that they are not taking this opportunity to educate people in the west on Islam. They are losing sympathizers with their plight by choosing to demonstrate with violence, death, fire, bounties and general mayhem. They could have held peaceful demonstrations, such as were held in Vancouver and Toronto, to show the west that at its foundations, Islam is a peaceful religion.I know that the people in the Middle East and Arab states, have largely been oppressed by their governments, brainwashed, starved, and threatened with multiple forms of torture for ages, all in the name of Islam. It is no wonder that they react with violence. However, if their clerics, their governments, excluding those of Iran and Palestine (who wish, it seems, to isolate themselves) want to improve the conditions of the people in their countries, and want to improve the relations between western culture and Islam, they needed to react more swiftly, and more assuredly against the violence, condemning those that chose to be violent. As well, it is the duty of Muslims living in the West, not to assimilate per se, but to accept the laws of their countries, and use these laws in peaceful demonstration condemning the cartoons, not to incite violence, both at home and in the Middle East.

I agree with a journalist who was fired from a newspaper in the middle east when he said, roughly, it was a fundamental problem of the Islamists to have the opportunity to educate the west, but in the end, only bring more fear of Islam through violent uprising. These are the only images we see on TV, as unfortunately our media is sensationalized and for the most part, integrity means nothing. If Muslims are going to change western views of Islam, they have to stop feeding our media with fear and images of mass chaos and destruction.

That being said, what amount of blame should fall on the shoulders of the Imam's in Denmark, who took their plight to the middle east, looking for this kind of reaction? What did they expect? If they are living in a Western society, should they not keep their conflict within that society? Did it need to become a global issue? Surely it could have been resolved peacefully within Denmark. I have not read any renunuciation on the part of the Danish Government, and likely we won't now that their have been numerous death threats and bounties placed on the cartoonists and editors of the newspapers. Had the conflict stayed in Denmark, and had the Imams chosen peaceful means, we likely wouldn't be in this tense situation now. Dialogue between the Danish Muslims and the newspaper and government would have done a great deal more than the path that they have chosen.
Further, I'm not saying that the newspapers were right, either. Perhaps they should have used a little more tact and censorship in their publication. Freedom of speech is one thing, but so is respect of cultures, and citizens of the country, and in such delicate times, perhaps more discretion is necessary on the part of the editors.