The Cartoon War of 2006

First, I have to say, I believe that the best name for a war ever was the Soccer War. Seriously, a war started by a soccer match? C'mon! That is awesome! There hasn't been a contender for such a title since. Until now.

Increasingly I hear people talking about the "Cartoon War." Boycotts against quasi-pacificist, wholly humanist Denmark, Austria, and Norway; embassies being burnt in Syria and Iran; riots and protest marches all over the Islamic world. People are seriously angry. Over, yes, a cartoon.

Okay, let me tell you my thoughts. Am I, was I, and will I continue to be aware of the simple fact that drawing Muhammad is offensive in almost any context to many if not most people of the Islamic faith? Yes. I study other cultures for a living, I have friends who are Muslim, heck, after 9-11 I went on an ape-$#@! letter writing campaign against some jerks at a local bookstore who called the cops on a Turkish gentleman who made the mistake of getting coffee and looking terrorist-esque. Whatever that means. Would I draw Muhammad, nope - heck, theologically I have problems with drawing any religious figure (one of the few theological tenets I feel very strongly about). Does this whole episode indicate that Western history and culture classrooms shouldn't just study European and American history and thought? Doy.

Thought number 2: freedom of speech, assembly, religion, and so forth are essential. The competition of ideas and beliefs is the only way we can guarantee freedom will survive and that politics, economics, and society can evolve, not to mention the only way to guarantee the rights of minorities and individuals. READ THE FEDERALIST PAPERS. Seriously. Its not a moral thing with me, its not even about rights, its about the practical preservation of an adaptive, democratic, free society.

Here is the part where I sound insensitive. I apologize beforehand.

No one, anywhere, has a right not to be offended. Sure sure, we all have a right to turn off, close, or walk away from offensive expressions of speech. And no, we don't have a right to slander, nor to incite violence (RULE-BASED BEHAVIOR). But anyone and everyone has a right to say what they want, so long as it obeys those rules. The implication is A) no one has a right to try and edit prior-to-the-expression freedom of speech and B) no government has the right to apologize for its people expressing their speech. Deal with it.

Okay, here is the part where I point out the obvious.

All this violence, you know, it ain't just about cartoons. Its about the fact that most Muslims live under oppressive governments, governments which are either supported by the Western powers or which the Western powers, in their attempts to villanize and punish, actually lend creedence to. Most Muslims see the West's interests in their countries as explicitly exploitive, which it is, in that Westerners wouldn't give a high hell about those states if it weren't for their markets, their cheap labor, and here's the biggie, their natural resources. Furthermore, Muslims living in the developed world, in particular in Europe, but sadly in the US and Canada as well, are the frequent subjects of laws which limit their freedom of movement, their freedom of religious expression, and their privacy. [Of course, these Muslims, though, as we are constantly reminded, not all Muslims advocate violence or terrorism. That said, most terrorists since the decline of the Cold War are Muslim, and Muslims do participate in warfare more often than non-Muslims.] Regardless, the point is this: Muslims feel, and in many ways quite rightly, that the West has only taken from them and given them nothing of real consequence back. Westerners broke the great Islamic empires, colonized every Islamic state, allowed the creation of Israel and disposition of the Palestinians, and have retained effective control over most of them through neo-colonial means since World War II. Heck, of the around 1 billion Muslims in the world today, some 56 million of them, about 1 in 20, are currently living in states occupied by the United States.

So everybody is ticked, and this cartoon, an offense not against a corrupt regime or party, but against a man almost universally appreciated in the Muslim community, was the spark necessary to light that discontent into a flame. Because it was something millions could agree on. There it is. Nothing fancy, nothing ludicrous. Just people who feel angry, lost, insulted, deprived, and so forth, people who are angry at themselves, their governments, and our governments, who just need to fight back - the problem is, instead of using this energy to fight poverty, to develop infrastructure, to overthrow tyrannies, or even to involve themselves in peaceful demonstrations, boycotts, speechs, and debates, some (but definitely not all) people are wasting it on violence.

All I can say is this: I am amazed every single damn day at how little the West and Islam understand each other, and until we do so, developing a sense of tolerance (which is not the same as acceptance, that comes later), this sort of snafu will distract us from far greater issues over and over again.