THE MUSLIM WORLD has erupted in anger and indignation over the publication of a series of editorial cartoons in Denmark that criticize Islam and its prophet Mohammed. Protestors have burnt three consulates, two in Syria and one in Lebanon and many Muslims have gone into the streets demanding violent revenge for the insult to their faith . . . by editorial cartoonists.
Of course, religious believers in the West--namely Christians--have had their faith mocked by the relentlessly secular Western press for decades. In the arts, Western Christians have suffered through insults such as Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ", a picture of a crucifix in a beaker of the artist's urine. Playwright Terrence McNally was hailed as a hero for depicting Jesus Christ as a promiscuous homosexual in his Corpus Christi.
The differing reactions of Muslims and Christians to perceived slights is worth examining.
CNN, by way of example, has refused to reproduce any of the Danish cartoons while the demonstrations rage, declaring that they have self-censored their broadcasts and website "out of respect for Islam." Yet when it came to covering the dispute over public funding and exhibition of Chris Ofili's Holy Virgin Mary, for instance, which featured a Madonna image covered in elephant dung and surrounded by pictures of female genitalia, the organization did not feel a need to make any gesture of respect: CNN displayed the artwork along with the story so its readers could make up their own minds.
THEN THERE IS the curious website |
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