Danish Cartoon Controversy the Danish Essay

Still another depicts him with a black patch over his eyes and he is carrying a machete. The fact that the cartoons mock the prophet is part of the reason for the anger in the Muslim world; but moreover, many Muslims despise Western values, Western politicians and the West in general (partly because of the West's support of Israel), and so Muslims are outraged that Western journalists would publish these cartoons. The angry Muslims believe Western values have crept into their culture already, and they resent it (Arab politician wearing Western-style suits and ties, for example). Now with the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and the West's support of the U.S., add derogatory cartoons into the mix and an explosion of rage occurs; it is a clash of principles and values.

My personal opinion: I agree with journalist Reza Aslan, that the conflict isn't just about "secular democratic freedoms" versus "arcane religious dogma"; it is really just another example and manifestation of "the ongoing ethnic and religious tensions" that have been ready to explode for a long time. Many Muslims have been economically and socially on the lower rung of the ladder for generations, and when Western media depict their prophet as a devil or bomber, they feel it is being done to humiliate them when they are already down and out in a socioeconomic sense.The bottom line is that international human rights laws put forward the notion that even in a democratic society, where there is freedom of the press, there must be a balance between civic responsibilities (i.e., don't attack another culture or faith just because you can) and constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. Personally, seeing the violence this week in Afghanistan over that right wing "Christian" pastor in Florida who burned the Koran, I would hesitate to do anything to inflame an already very passionate Muslim world with anything that could be perceived as an insult.

Works Cited

Aslan, Reza. (2006). Depicting Mohammed. Slate. Retrieved April 5, 2011, from http://www.slate.com.

Cohen, Patricia. (2009). Danish Cartoon Controversy. The New York Times. Retrieved April

5, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com......