Bonfire of the Pieties(Islam prohibits neither images of Muhammad nor jokes about religion.)

Opinion Journal ^ | February 8, 2006 | AMIR TAHERI

[Kaslin]

"The Muslim Fury," one newspaper headline screamed. "The Rage of Islam Sweeps Europe," said another. "The clash of civilizations is coming," warned one commentator. All this refers to the row provoked by the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper four months ago. Since then a number of demonstrations have been held, mostly--though not exclusively--in the West, and Scandinavian embassies and consulates have been besieged.

But how representative of Islam are all those demonstrators? The "rage machine" was set in motion when the Muslim Brotherhood--a political, not a religious, organization--called on sympathizers in the Middle East and Europe to take the field. A fatwa was issued by Yussuf al-Qaradawi, a Brotherhood sheikh with his own program on al-Jazeera. Not to be left behind, the Brotherhood's rivals, Hizb al-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Liberation Party) and the Movement of the Exiles (Ghuraba), joined the fray. Believing that there might be something in it for themselves, the Syrian Baathist leaders abandoned their party's 60-year-old secular pretensions and organized attacks on the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus and Beirut.

[agere_contra]

But how representative of Islam are all those demonstrators?

99%

[Smokin' Joe]

More about the three most offensive cartoons here they are fake!

[Kaslin]

I doubt that

[agere_contra]

Islam is what it is: a vengeful, hateful deathcult dreamt up by a caravan raider in the 7th century.

You are perhaps confusing "Islam" with "Muslims"?

[BeAllYouCanBe]

One statue of Muhammad can be seen at the building of the U.S. Supreme Court, where the prophet is honored as one of the great "lawgivers" of mankind.

I for one believe that if one and only one Muslim complains we ought to remove the evil image of the "Prophet".

[BelegStrongbow]

Here's the meat and potatoes. Just like we thought, this was engineered and the Western craven press couldn't wait to trumpet it.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

I remember that a caricature of Mahomet was used on the "Super Friends" episode of South Park several years ago. I can't recall any embassies burned.

[oyez]

The prophet must be awfully flimsy if he can't compete with a couple of low brow cartoons. Martin Luther wrote the words to the classic hymn "A Mighty Fortress is our God", so he is not bothered by some junior's doodling on paper.

[infowarrior]

I for one believe that if one and only one Muslim complains we ought to remove the evil image of the "Prophet".

Inasmuch as CAIR has *already* weighed in on that, in the negative, sure it should be removed. But, don't hold your breath...

the infowarrior

[brazzaville]

Good morning.
"I for one believe that if one and only one Muslim complains we ought to remove the evil image of the "Prophet".

I'm not a Muslim but I'll do it.

I demand that we remove the statue of the murderous pedophile from the USSC, ASAP.

Thank you.

Michael Frazier

[Poincare]

The "rage machine" was set in motion when the Muslim Brotherhood--a political, not a religious, organization--called on sympathizers in the Middle East and Europe to take the field.

So why did the Bush admin et al bow down to these Nazis?

[Bigun]

EXACTLY backwards! Perhaps 1%.

[dennisw]

bttt

[Kaslin]

Thanks for the bump

[dennisw]

Well, this guy knows Islam becasue he's a Muslim. One of the moderate rational ones who knows the foul game the crazy Jihadist Muslims play. He has their number. he knows what liars they are.

[Palladin]

This is manufactured indignation, used as a recruitig tool.

[Tribune7]

I just finished looking at this from this morning's paper. It was illustrated with some artwork featuring Mohammad. Not the same as running one of the Danish cartoons but it's at least something.

[Alia]

I read Amir's articles whenever they appear -- thank you for pinging me. :)

[backhoe]

Everything I have found about The War of the 12 Cartoons ( links, blogs, quips, quotes, aggravating pictures ) is located here- click the Pic, and scroll backwards: