Let me first clarify that I am a Pantheist, and have respect for and generally sympathize with all religions and beliefs as long as they do not diverge from basic moralities inherent to good human nature.
I will not retell the the uproar and world-scale reactions to the publication of controversial cartoons of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, in the Danish daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten and in other European print media, nor I will mention the cultural facets of concerns arised.
I have two questions to both of the involved parties.
To the the leaders of Arab and Islamic countries and the Islamic world that has reacted with unpaired anger, the closing of the embassies of their countries in Denmark and by launching consumer boycotts against Danish goods: Where were you when US army personnel flushed copies of the Quran in the toilets of the Guantánamo Bay prison camp?
To Western politicians and media personnel, the ardent defenders of democracy and fervent proponents of freedom of speech who strived to depict the Islamic outrage to the cartoons as unnecessary reaction driven by fanaticism: Why would you condemn the statements of any politician or media worker who expresses an opinion that may not comply with the Holocaust?
Strontium90 wrote:
Where were you when US army personnel flushed copies of the Quran in the toilets of the Guantánamo Bay prison camp?
..
I don’t think these events are directly comparable.
By the way, what’s a pantheist?
Also, don’t you think it’s a bad idea declaring right out in front like you did that you’re a pantheist?
Comment by ahnaqsh — February 4, 2006 @ 10:16 pm |
In my view, the events are directly comparable because both address intentional insults to highly-respected cornerstones of Islam.
Most recations from the Islamic world, specially those who argue on the grounds of aniconism, are ironic and show ignorance of the very Islamic culture. It is very important to remember that despite the prohibition against depicting the prophet, hundreds of paintings, drawings and other symbolic images of him have been created over the centuries both in Islamic and non-Islamic art, with next to nonexistent complaint from the Islamic world. This page gives few examples.
If you knew about the essence of pantheism you wouldn’t have asked me the latter question.
Comment by strontium90 — February 5, 2006 @ 12:30 am |
I certainly don’t know about pantheism, and that’s why I asked you; if I knew, I wouldn’t have bothered to ask.
The thing about pantheism is that it seems to have varieties, so I can’t really know about it from reading, perhaps your idea of it is different from the stuff on, say, the Wikipedia entry on pantheism. This is common when it comes to religions, people have different versions. What is pantheism from your perspective?
Also, the people who are likely to be annoyed about your being a pantheist are highly unlikely to have even heared of it before; people hate and fear what they don’t know (double so for religions and intellectual trends); I merely suggest you remove that statement, because I think it’s a bad idea.
As to the other point, I’ll get back to you on it later.
Best regards.
Ahmed.
Comment by ahnaqsh — February 6, 2006 @ 1:04 am |
I guess I never got back to you on that
I’m sorry, but I’ve mainly forgotten that line of argument, but it mainly concerned the fact that I had never heared about the American flushing Qurans in toilets, mind you : they’re apt to that kind of thing, and they perhaps do it; it’s just that I had never heared it said before, and so it is not well-known. The cartoons are well-known, though. How they became well-known is something I don’t know, especially considering they’re not the first depictions of this nature (By the way, thanks a lot for the link!). But perhaps the mood nowdays is different, what with Hamas winning, and the progressivelymore powerful Islamic revivalism and stuff… Religion is making a comeback, perhaps..all over the world, it is happening. Whether it’s the brief wakefullness that precedes eventual death or the awakening of a dormant giant is a matter that days will settle; if the matter is indeed that much of a clear-cut two-sided issue.
Comment by ahnaqsh — February 22, 2006 @ 7:08 pm |