Top down, Bottom up
In case someone has not yet come in contact with the number one polemic over here in Europe, here’s what I am talking about: Mohammed Cartoons. And for that matter a nice page that maybe helps to follow the line of thought I am about to point out: Mohammed Pictures throughout History.
As a believing, practising and rather conservative orientated Catholic, I am faced with several conflictual emotions and thoughts concerning this whole issue. What are the facts ? These cartoons were published by a Danish newspaper in September. Why are we having the downfall of this journalistic disaster (cartoons are not journalism) only now ? The same month the Hamas – a terrorist network and political unit whose first purpose still is the destruction of Israel – wins Palestinian elections ? The same month where the West is played into Cold-War games again by an unyielding Iran ?
The list could go on and on.
And what if all the indignation the Muslim world is feeling now, is the same that all Catholic or Christians felt and feel when Beneton had one of their geniuses design a PR gag using Christian symbols and scenes ? Any believing Christian (or Jew) had to learn to live with this kind of half hidden critic, sarcasm etc. in the modern world. You deal with it, you have to accept it, you can voice your anger against it and use all the possibilities a modern society and state gives you to ‘not accept’ it. But ask your governement to a) give the responsible the sack b) have all copies burnt or c) make a law against picturing religious symbols, persons or else ? That is not how our western world works wether we like it or not. It’s the downside of having a democracy, of having separated powers, of having the absolute freedom of speech and opinion, of having the liberty of movement and action. It lets you be as intolerant as you can be as a Catholic towards anybody else. But it also gives the liberty to any atheistic journalist to voice their jokes about religion in general and about the Islam in this special case. And even if I don’t like it, even if I think that there is a line… (showing Mohammed as a terrorist is like depicting Jesus as an 11th century crusader) … that there has to be a line somewhere, we’ll all have to accept this liberty. Every right and every freedom has a downside, a bad turnout for somebody else. It’s one of the most basic lessons of western civilisation. And one the Arab, Muslim and Eastern world and any unfree goverened population has to learn. They better learn it fast, or they will get quickly manipulated into a fifth column within the Western states.
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