Why Stir Up the Hornets Nest?

There is a rush to post new and offensive cartoons of Muhammed on many blogs. We have freedom of speech in this country, but know what? People around the world are rioting and killing over this stuff. Perhaps poking fun at it is not the best course of action.

It is easy to take cheap shots at what is going on, or at some of the people involved. But in reality, this is a mess. There is a difference between responsible dialogue and just pissing someone off. As we have learned, some people are willing to kill over a cartoon. Producing our own insulting images is not a good idea.

I don't mean back down in fear - now is a time to stand up against radicalism. But isn't there a better way to do it than to firing off insults toward Muslims-at-large? Perhaps we should throw some water on the fire instead of some gasoline. I look at it as a Christian - if someone identified as a Christian killed, for example, an abortion clinic worker, I would view that as murder. The murderer would deserve the punishment of life in prison or the death penalty. I'd have no problem with it. Yet, if blogs everywhere drew cartoons mocking Jesus because of the incident, my reaction would not be based on the action of a murderer who was receiving justice. The reaction would be based on what I saw as blasphemy. It would be an attack on me and what I held dear.

Let's use the events of the last few days to remind ourselves that there is an element of people who will kill over anything. No, I am not talking about Muslims in general - but there is a subgroup within Islam that we, as typical Americans, don't understand and completely underestimate. It is time to look at more effective ways to deal with this evil subgroup than to post pictures that insult all Muslims. Let's deal with evil - not with pissing off that which we don't understand.

Remember - these cartoons are not new. The publication happened months ago. Organized elements have been stirring this up for months, going from a simmer to a boil. A lot of planning went into making these riots happen. Let's not play into their hands and create a bigger problem.


Tags: Islam , Muhammed Cartoon