Benjamin Young
Staff Writer
The world shook with rage and violence because a Danish newspaper published some satirical cartoons. Three weeks ago, that might have served as a punch line for a joke. Now, this potential punch line is headline news. What initially started as an exercise in satire and social experimentation on the freedoms of speech and press turned into an ugly display of hatred and intolerance with tragic loss of life. This situation escalated far beyond what it should have, and now we are scratching our heads and asking how it turned out as it did. The answer is shockingly simple and it carries two very significant consequences.
Violence in the name of Islam is not a new phenomenon by any means. Sept. 11, 2001, brought it to the forefront of Western consciousness. Since then the West has been trying to ascertain the true nature of Islam. Is it, like the moderates say, a religion of peace and tolerance? Or is the true nature of the religion better expressed in the hate-filled diatribes of the bin Ladens, the Mullahs and the Ahmadinejads? For the most part the jury is hung on the matter, and there is ample evidence to support the validity of both schools of thought.
The Danish comic scandal gives us a direct and candid view of the nature of mainstream Islam. The response to these cartoons has been breathtakingly violent and totally unreasonable. While moderate Muslims around the world are denouncing the riots, the destruction and the killing, the moderate voices of peace and tolerance are like whispers in a windstorm.
There are some harsh truths about the Muslim world that further complicate matters. The employment situation in the Muslim world is, at best, bleak; unfortunately, the literacy numbers are low as well. According to an August report in the Asia Times, there are now approximately 25 million unemployed Muslim men, while only half of the Muslim population is literate. This is problematic because it makes this population more susceptible to radicalism. At the risk of a cliché, this is a population that is looking for a revolution that will assuredly lead to more directionless violence.
It is legitimate to say the total impact of the comic scandal will not be known in the near term. However, even in this near term, there are some observations that should be made. First, recent events have cast doubt as to the legitimacy of international cooperation with the Muslim world. The New York Times recently reported that Syrian security forces literally turned their backs as the mob burned down the Danish Consulate. This is totally unacceptable behavior on the part of the Syrian government. To put it in perspective, the situation would be roughly the same if, on Sept. 12, 2001, the United States had allowed Jerry Falwell and his followers to raze the Saudi Arabian Embassy. By Western standard, the protection of foreign embassies is paramount in the interest of international diplomacy.
Second, this event casts further doubt on the feasibility of peaceful co-existence between Islam and the liberal West. There is no doubt that some growing pains are inevitable as two very different worldviews begin to mesh and co-exist. But as evidenced in France, this edgy co-existence is fragile and can quickly erupt into violent conflict. On a broader scale, the catalyst for this conflict is easy to identify: in the post-French Revolution West, there is a strong tradition of separation of God and government; in Islam, no such separation exists.
What the West calls an exercise in free speech, Islam calls abomination of the highest order. These competing worldviews are incompatible in their current form – peaceful co-existence will take much compromise from both sides. So far it seems that compromise is out of the question.
Mainstream Islam is not compatible with the West’s secularism. The West does not accept the fervency of religious devotion that permeates Islamic society.
This leaves the world right in the middle of what Samuel Huntington calls “the clash of civilizations.” While the road ahead is bound to be tumultuous, this is a road that the world must walk. Returning to the comic scandal, it is clear that there are occasions that warrant the self-suspension of the freedom of speech in order to preserve the peace. It is commendable that publications like BBCNews and the New York Times refrained from running the comics in order to avoid inciting further violence and protest. On the same note, it is also clear that violent protest that ends in destruction and bloodshed is absolutely unacceptable. Having devout faith is commendable, but if indeed the religion claims peace as one of its core values, then the actions of the Muslim mobs over the past few weeks have been an egregious breach of religious fidelity.
02-16-2006