This whole mess started last fall when a Danish author
complained that he didn’t have any illustrations for his book on
Muhammad. He was frustrated that Islam does not allow its followers to
create or view images of the prophet. So the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten
sponsored a contest to see which artists could draw the best cartoons,
and then in September they published 12 of them—including one that
showed the prophet with a bomb on his head.
Did somebody at the newspaper think that was funny?
When the furor escalated last month, many Americans were
actually glad to see that Muslims were mad at other countries instead
of us. Comedian Bill Mayer quipped: “Sometimes it’s just nice to see
angry Muslims burning someone else’s flag for a change.”
Meanwhile a lot of us Christians rolled our eyes and blamed
the entire mess on the Muslims. We said things like: Can’t they
take a joke? Don’t they understand that there should be freedom of the
press? Why do they have to have such a stupid rule about not being able
to look at Muhammad? I mean, we have all kinds of portraits of Jesus.
Go ahead: Admit that you thought those things. I did. But
after I thought for a while, I contacted a good friend of mine, Samuel
Lee, who is a former Muslim. He is now a Christian evangelist whose
primary work is in the major cities of Europe.
Samuel is not laughing about the cartoons. And he does not
think the Danish newspaper had the right to publish them. He offered me
these insights, which I am glad to pass along:
1. Not all Muslims are burning flags or threatening
to blow up embassies—but they are very offended by the cartoons.
Only a small percentage of Muslims fall into the “radical” category.
Says Samuel: “When 9/11 happened, many Muslims condemned the attacks on
America, and some went into the streets with candles in their hands to
show compassion. But now even those Muslims who condemned the terrorism
and fanaticism are offended because through the cartoons of Muhammad
their values are being attacked.”
2. We may not understand their religion, but we must
show compassion and sensitivity. Muslims do not believe it is
right to create an image of Muhammad because they are afraid this will
lead to idolatry. “Then someone comes along from the West, and they not
only draw a picture of the prophet but they humiliate him,” Samuel
explains. If we want to reach Muslims with the love of Christ, the last
thing we should do is ridicule their religious beliefs.
3. We need to swallow our cultural pride.
Many of us in the West feel that our civilization is superior to
Islamic culture, and we boast about our freedom of speech and freedom
of the press. Yet Muslims look at European and American culture and see
nothing but pornography, unrestrained indecency and acceptance of
homosexuality. Is that superior?
Says Samuel: “What is democracy? If in the name of democracy
we can say and do whatever we want to hurt or humiliate others, how far
can we go? Democracy is not about humiliating people or other cultures.
Democracy means treating people with dignity and respect and yet having
your own opinion.”
This furor would die down immediately if Danish Prime
Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen would issue an apology for the behavior
of editors at Jyllands-Posten. But that would require some
humility on his part. And European pride, like American pride, is
unyielding.
Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh—a descendant of the famous
painter—was killed in Amsterdam by a radical Muslim in 2004 because he
mocked Islam in a documentary in which he placed verses from the Quran
on the nude bodies of women. That may have made a bold artistic
statement about the abuse of women in the Middle East, but it was not
the right way to go about it. Such reckless freedom of expression cost
Van Gogh his life and made it harder for Christians in Holland to reach
Muslims—who now expect all Christians to ridicule their beliefs.
It’s time we learned some cultural sensitivity. I hope we
figure this out before similar bloodshed begins on American soil.
