Jesus and Mo

My partner sent me a link to the below archived image at a fun little site called jesusandmo.net

I thought it was funny and then with some clicking of my own discovered this little gem:

May 20th is the first international "Everybody Draw Mohammad" day. It, of course, was started in response to the response of South Park's satarizing the fact that in the current cultural climate it is forbidden to offend Muslims with images of their religious leaders when everyone else is fair game.

Already folks have noted that Islamic Iconoclasm, or the strict enforcement of, is only a modern notion. Believe it or not, in museums around the world their are paintings from around the islamic umma accross the centuries that variously depict the prophet. Even in modern states like Iran images of Mohammed being touted by children are not uncommon.

One could argue then it's a matter of tasteful or respectfulness that one not show an image of Mohammed with a bomb turban or as a dog, but it begs the question of muslims -- if you demand respect from us for your religion, how are you respecting people of other faiths, or no faith at all!... I'm thinking intimidation, forced conversions, familial estrangement and assasination plots when a muslim converts to another faith? Then there's the whole problem with religious extremism and terrorism - what is the average muslim on the streets of Cairo, Ramallah, or Damascus doing to combat the twisting of their faith by extremist preachers?

Transcendent of that though is an essential truth, there are elements of incompatability between modern western culture and the prevailing culture of the Umma. Central to this is that beyond matters of respect - the freedom to draw Mohammed as a dog or Jesus as a homosexual or any religious or secular figure in a light that is unbecoming and untoward, so long as it doesn't cause physical harm to the subject of the speech is an essential part of our notions of freedom of speech. You can be pissed, you can retaliate with vitriol or equanimity but it doesn't afford you the right to retaliate with violence within our western culture. This is true of anyone or any group, it's the beauty of the justice and equality of the freedom of speech.