You remember those Danish cartoons that sent millions of adherents of the “Religion of Peace” into a violent feeding frenzy, right?
The main “offender” was a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban. You remember.

Well, it seems as though the 74-year-old cartoonist is still, four years later, having to deal with death threats from “peaceful” Muslim radicals.

The Associated Press reports that Kurt Westergaard was the target of a plot by two Chicago men who were charged this week.
The story recalls that the cartoons triggered the torching of Danish and other Western embassies in several Muslim countries by angry mobs “who felt the cartoons had profoundly insulted Islam.”

Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry, according to the story.
So, here’s my problem with that.

In Judaism, the rules apply to Jews only. In Christianity, too, I believe. I mean, Jews aren’t supposed to turn lights on on the Sabbath, but you don’t see them insisting everyone around them sit the dark on Friday night, do you?

So, what makes the Muslims feel like their religious rules — like not depicting the Prophet Muhammad in any form — must apply to non-Muslims, even in their own countries?

They don’t. We do not have to abide by Muslim rules, at least not here, at least not yet. And we don’t have to apologize about it, either.

They’re not our rules, and don’t apply to us.

If their problem with the cartoons was that they depicted the prophet, tough. If they objected to the cartoon’s implication, they succeeded in proving it true by their reaction.

“How dare you imply Islam is a violent religion, we’ll kill you!”

seemed to be the message.

Westergaard reportedly has rejected calls to apologize to Muslims, saying poking fun at religious symbols is protected by Denmark’s freedom of speech. And good for him.

The drawing was not meant to criticize Islam but to illustrate that extremists draw “spiritual ammunition” from it, he reportedly said.
“I have a problem with the fact that we have people from another culture who don’t accept that we use religious elements in a drawing,” he’s quoted as saying.
Westergaard and his wife  have been forced underground, the story said, where they live, constantly moving from place to place, under the protection of law enforcement officials.
Because Islam is the religion of peace.
In February last year, the story says, Danish police arrested two Tunisians accused of plotting to strangle Westergaard in his home. The men were released for lack of evidence and left Denmark, the story notes.
The cartoon crisis sparked debate in Europe about the limits of free speech — about whether religious sensitivities need to be considered, and, presumably, about whether fear of violent reaction should be allowed to diminish citizens’ rights.
A Danish writer of Pakistani origin reportedly said the problem is Westerners’ failure “to understand what the Prophet Muhammad means to Muslims.”
But I say we understand it just fine, it just doesn’t matter. It was a cartoon. Depiction’s of Jesus — who means at least as much to Christians as Muhammad does to Muslims — has been depicted in much worse ways, many more times, and yet no riots or death threats usually result.
And Jews and all things Jewish are depicted in horrendously anti-Semitic ways regularly worldwide, especially in the Arab press, with similar, non-violent reactions.
Asked if he regretted drawing the cartoon, Westergaard reportedly was unequivocal in his answer.
“No, I don’t,” he reportedly said. “I mean, the friction between these two cultures (Muslim and Western) is always there. What will happen in the long run is that our culture — the materialistic, superior culture — will of course win out, and we will have, I think, a modified version of Islam that fits in with our secular society.”
I certainly hope so.

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