But Don't Draw an Offensive Picture of Mohammed
Muslim students burn an effigy of Pope Benedict XVI at a protest rally in Allahabad, India, Friday, Sept. 15, 2006. A growing chorus of Muslim leaders has called on the Pope to apologize for the alleged derogatory comments made by him about Islam. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
"Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence."
– Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam.
The quote I would use is different....
"Any outsider who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant plays into the hands of the extremist elements in Islam."
No religion of that size in monlithic, there are liberal, moderate, conservatives and extreme branches and interpretations. Statements that increase the alienation of the average Muslim drive more of them into the extreme branches.
Posted by: Nephlm on September 19, 2006 11:25 AM | permalinkI guess the difference is that I feel a religious leader or political cartoonist can criticize or lampoon Christianity without causing riots (though they'd certainly get an earful).
I think that falling back on the fact that every group has its extremist fringe glosses over the fact that contemporary Islam has a frighteningly large extremist component that is willing to act on its views.
Posted by: Joe Grossberg on September 19, 2006 11:55 AM | permalinkHonestly Joe, I think your observation is kind of bigoted. The story your photo came from cites a protest in rural Pakistan. Take rural Christians, rural Jews, etc and you'd get the same reaction. And in the same story on Yahoo the caption points out that many Muslim leaders are calling for an apology. Not leading mobs, but calling for an apology.
If you want to do comparison, compare the behavior of Muslim and Catholic religious leaders, don't compare angry Muslim mobs with Catholic religious leaders. Of course the mobs are worse behaved. Mobs of all religions are poorly behaved.
Posted by: Shabbir on September 20, 2006 9:23 AM | permalinkThe comparison of the Pope and his staff of handlers to an uneducated mob is unfair on my part, but I think it's factual, and not bigoted, to say that Muslim extremism is a far greater problem today than Christian or Jewish extremism.
For example, the likelihood of imposing literal Halachic or Christian law in any nation is laughable. Religious special interests can't even get enough headway to ban pork in Israel, never mind mutilating theives, hanging gay teens or stoning adulterers.
The imposition of Shariah is a fact in Saudi Arabia and Iran, was so in Afghanistan, and is becoming so in some parts of Somalia, Nigeria, et al. Furthermore, there is a disturbingly high percentage of the Muslim population in England, France and other nations that, when polled, states they'd like the same.
I think that the world's Muslim population is excessively radicalized and intolerant -- not just relative to some ideal, but relative to other groups. And I think it's something that needs to be addressed, not rationalized.
Posted by: Joe Grossberg on September 20, 2006 11:30 AM | permalinkNo more comments! Either someone has violated Godwin's Law, I'm tired of the discussion or, most likely, the ten-week window has closed. You can, however, contact me through email.