Is something rotten in the state of Denmark?
So I’m sure you’ve all heard about the riots and protests over some cartoon published in Denmark that depicted Muhammad with a bomb for a turban. I’m still having trouble getting my mind around the fact that this is all because of some stupid cartoon. The news articles I read on the subject didn’t show the offending cartoon. One of them said it was “out of respect for Islam” (translation: “we don’t want them to come after us too”). How can we have a true discussion of this cartoon if we don’t actually see it?
But I’m not going to criticize them too much for that, because I’m sure as hell not going to show it. All I need is some extremist Muslim to see my site with the cartoon of Muhammad right underneath a giant piece o’ pork. No thanks. But do a Google Images search for “Muhammed danish cartoon” and you should find it.
I saw the cartoon and I’m not even sure what the artist intended. Was he making some ridiculous statement that all Muslims are terrorists? That was my initial reaction and it seems to be how most people are interpreting it. But after thinking about it some more, I’m not sure. Was he possibly saying that these terrorists are hijacking the religion and claiming ownership over its interpretation - using the religion as a weapon and a means for delivering their violent message? Or was he simply commenting on the state of the Middle East: the Muslim world is like a bomb about to go off? If anyone has any links to articles where they actually discuss what the cartoon might have meant, or the artist himself talks about it, I’d welcome that in the comments section.
Maybe it is just some stupid, bigoted cartoon, like the way Asians and blacks used to be depicted in Warner Bros. cartoons. Whether it’s offensive or not, I was happy to hear the Danish prime minister refused to apologize. The government didn’t publish that, an independent newspaper did. If the newspaper wishes to apologize, then fine, but it simply doesn’t make sense for the government to apologize for something it had no hand in. What would they be apologizing for - allowing free speech??
It’s also good to hear that President Bush expressed our support for Denmark. Can you believe that the first mention of Bush on my site was a positive one? Who’d have predicted that? Bush supporters cherish it, because it won’t happen often.
February 8th, 2006 at 9:47 am
Maybe the cartoon, was trying to state a positive statement about Islam.
“Islams’ like the bomb, dawg! ”
The cartoonist’s political cartoon could have been totallllyyyyy taken out of context.
Or maybe we, western society, are taking the whole rioting out of context due to our cultural differences. Perhaps the political cartoon was really funny, and this is the means of celebrating denmark’s zany sense of humor.
February 8th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
According to CNN.com, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that people should work through the courts if they have a problem with the cartoons, and that Denmark has “legislation that sets limitations on the freedom of expression”, including “racist and blasphemous” expressions.
OK, so he was right to not apologize but apparently Denmark’s not as free of a country as I thought.
Kris, if you’re reading this - anything you’d like to clarify on behalf of your surrogate country?
February 8th, 2006 at 4:46 pm
As the ex-pat currently in DK, I have to say that the cartoons aren’t an issue here. Really. Denmark has free press. Anyone with a qualm about it is a religious fanantic. Not sympathetic, but I think fairly accurate, from what I hear on the street.
Danes are not particulary religious. This is country with a national religion, but that’s part of the heritage- people are very secular here. (Much more so than the States.) They let in huge numbers of Muslim immigrants and refugees, and seem to have thought most would “assimilate,” which in Danish terms means become secular like them. It didn’t happen. Sooooo, Danes are worried about losing their national identity, and Muslims dig in their heels when they feel their faith threatened.
I belive part of the whole issue isn’t the cartoon itself, but that Mohammad was drawn in the first place. One doesn’t do that in Islam - it’s a guard against worshipping idols. (Hence, all the spiffy mosaics on mosques.) So even if he had been doing something Right and Proper, it still might have bothered some.
February 8th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
Thanks for the insight kris! I admit to knowing zero about Danish people. That’s somewhere in Europe right? I know you’ve probably heard this a million times but… what do they call danishes in Denmark?
I realize that part of the issue is you’re not supposed to show an image of Muhammed, but I find it hard to believe there would be this much commotion if it was a cartoon of Muhammed cutting off George Bush’s head. (NSA, it’s spelled M-C-M-I-L-L-E-N.) Somehow I think a lot of these rioters would have let that one slide, but maybe I’m wrong.
Hey I got an idea. I’ll start a religion where it’s a sin to say the word “butter”. Even though you don’t practice my religion, you should avoid saying it anyway out of respect for my beliefs. It would be like if Christians got all offended that everyone didn’t say “Merry Christmas” to them for a full month out of the year. I mean that would be ridiculous.
February 9th, 2006 at 11:50 pm
/me wants to know what they call Danishes in Denmark…..
*taps foot*
February 12th, 2006 at 4:24 am
Sorry . . .haven’t been by in a few days. Danish are called wienerbrød (Vienese bread).
You’d appreaciate the Danish perspective, Kev, religion is generally concerned a superstition or even a hobby (yes, a hobby) here. Basically, they’re all cults, so if you believe in God, it follows that it must be impossible to think for yourself, since this God must be doing your thinking for you. Your butter analogy is right on when it comes to their opinion.
I realize it sounds like I’m sterotyping Danes here- I’m sure there is one who disagrees with me, somewhere, but I haven’t heard it. It is my belief they’re pretty united on this religion issue.
The Catholic Church is especially hated. Even though I’m a “Roamin’ Catholic” I take a lot of slack. (Not that I could practice- the closest Catholic church is 4 hours away by bus.)
February 15th, 2006 at 11:21 pm
Ok, so I’ve gotten to this discussion a bit late, but I did catch an interesting tidbit of info on NPR the other day. Apparently, when this all happened back in September it didn’t cause a big splash. Then, some more fanatic individuals got a hold of the cartoons and started spreading them around. They didn’t just pass the cartoons around however. Along with them they circulated some much more offensive material, and didn’t bother to mention that it didn’t all come from the same source. I can see how all of this started getting out of whack.