Cartoon violence in the real world

A funny thing happened on the way to the Mosque.......

And so it begins. A low circulation magazine in Denmark prints some cartoons depicting Mohammed in less than, well....for that matter, simply depicting Mohammed at all, and all hell breaks loose over the Muslim world. So here we are, once again, back to the war on Islam, back to the culture war, back to "us vs. them." And all over a couple of cartoons.

What exactly seems to be the problem, according to what I've been able to learn about Islam over the years, is the depicting of Mohammed does not seem to violate any particularly, clearly spelled out rule in the Koran, but rather doctrine added to Islam over the ensuing centuries. It would appear any depiction of Mohammed is forbidden, out of fear that it will lead to idolatry. That's right, looking at a cartoon of Mohammed might lead some Muslim to suddenly drop to their knees, who would then begin worshipping said cartoon, thereby corrupting the "true religion" damning them and all of humanity to hell for all eternity. Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me!

Being a practicing Roman Catholic, I know a little bit about idolatry, with respect to representations of Jesus and the saints. I've heard the jokes about Catholics worshipping idols. All one need do is look in any Catholic Church to notice all the "idols" located around the worship space. Why, if that isn't idolatry, then what is? I'll tell you what the difference is. The difference is between looking at a statue, or a stained-glass window, that was created to represent (say that word again, "represent") something, and worshipping the art work itself. The fresco of the Crucifixion that stands over the alter at my Church is not worshipped. Its a symbol that reminds us of the sacrifice Jesus made. It is not Jesus. It is a work of art, it is not an idol.

Idolatry is when one believes a representation does more than just depict a deity, it IS the deity. That a particular God has placed part of himself/herself/itself into the statue, and thereby, worshipping said idol IS worshipping said deity. There is a difference, and it seems pretty clear to me.

But then again, I don't believe these riots have much to do with depictions of Mohammed, or alleged or believed grievances at all. For my part, if Muslims feel it is wrong to depict Mohammed for fear of lapsing into idolatry, far be it for me to call them silly. (Okay, it does seem a tad silly.) But as some one who repeats the mantra every week in Church that every word in the Bible is the word of God (which includes an arc with two of each animals in the world - "hey Noah; couldn't you have skipped on the flies?" - except those pesky unicorns) I have a bit of time and effort invested in religion.

No. What we are seeing here is a lot more than your every day, garden-variety, off the shelf outrage over religious differences. In my opinion, what we're seeing is a desperate attempt by hard-line Islamic radicals to halt the long, dirty, disgusting drive to pull Islam and the Muslim world out of the seventh century and into, hopefully, at least, the fifteenth century. The world is changing, and those in charge of the Muslim world don't like it. Because they see that march of progress as having one inexorable conclusion; they won't be calling the shots - the people will.

As I watched news reports of the riots erupt across the Muslim world, I noticed a few other things, which not every one might have caught. For example, spontaneous riots broke out in Iran, Syria and Lebanon. They also broke out in south eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan. Also in Gaza and the West Bank, but not in Egypt or Saudi Arabia. Syria and Iran are totalitarian regimes. There are no spontaneous riots without prior government approval. They were staged by the government. Lebanon may have expelled Syrian troops from their country, but they haven't cleansed themselves of Syrian influence at every level of government from the street sweepers to the parliament. South eastern Afghanistan? As I recall, that's Taliban territory. Gaza and the West Bank? Can you say Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezzbolah?

Why Pakistan? Well, that's a basket case of a country anyway. Its hard to tell who's running that place, either the half that likes America or the other half that's hiding Osama bin Looser. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are walking on egg shells with the west as it is. I'm not sure what they're trying to accomplish - or prevent.

I believe there a few possible reasons for state directed, state sponsored, spontaneous demonstrations. Among them could be Saudi Arabia's inability to run the Islamic required Hajj without an attending body count. "Did you see those dead pilgrims? Who cares about that did you see those cartoons?" It could also be Iran and Syria are scared dungless by finding themselves practically surrounded by American troops. It could be Iraq's inevitable march towards democracy, and the dangers that presents to it's dictatorial neighbors. It could be many things.

First, I think Syria and Iran are scared. They know they can not defeat America's military, and so they need to do something else to secure their dictatorships. One prospect is to prove to the entire west (thank you CNN) that Muslims are crazy, and it's better that we leave the task of keeping a lid on them to their fellow Muslims, regardless of the death toll involved. I also sense another thread here. Since the information given to the state-sponsored, state-approved rioters is closely regulated by the state, the only information they receive on western society, democracy, and a free press is what has been carefully filtered by their state censors. In other words, I seriously doubt they're getting the full picture of just what liberty and democracy has to offer them. Here's a perfect present from the west; if the peasants want democracy, lets show them what that means. Crank up the mullahs and the imans and show the peasants democracy is not compatible with the camel dung they've been fed since birth. If they want democracy, then they get their religion trashed in the process. That's right Punjab, we may rape your daughters, drag your sons off into mass graves, but we won't let papers publish cartoons that your state sponsored cleric tells you insults you and your religion.

Whatever the compilation of reasons for the riots, one thing is clear, dictators in Muslim countries are attempting to use it to their advantage. Living life over the last forty plus years has taught me one thing. And that is, no matter what you try to accomplish in life, chances are whatever you do to achieve those goals, you will inevitably drive yourself farther away from them. In other words, the harder you try to reach that brass ring, the more difficult you will make it to reach. You may find yourself landing close enough to find a reasonable happiness, but very few people actually obtain their desired goal. While the dictators may think this episode will help them short term in trying to save their miserable, flea bitten hides, in the end, it's one more step towards their downfall. Long live liberty! Long live democracy!