Religious riots

Several years ago, an American artist named Andres Serrano took a photograph of a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of his own urine. Serrano submitted the photo, which he titled “Piss Christ,” in a prestigious art contest. The outrageously sacrilegious piece, uniformly offensive to Christians and most reasonable people, won the contest

Of course, “Piss Christ” touched off violent, weeks-long riots by outraged Christians, who demonstrated worldwide. Embassies were assaulted, American and (inexplicably) Russian flags were burned, and several people were killed in the riots.

Don’t remember that? Well, it didn’t happen that way. Sure, there was a controversy. The controversy surrounding Serrano’s “art” was not about his right to produce such blasphemous filth, but about money. The art contest which Serrano won was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a government bureau.

In September 2005, a Danish magazine, Jyllands-Posten, published 12 political cartoons featuring caricatures of the Muslim prophet Mohammed. These cartoons were irreverent as opposed to hate-filled. Unfortunately, ANY depiction of Mohammed is considered blasphemous in the Muslim community. The Danish cartoons, of course, did spawn violent protest of the type hypothesized above. Muslims around the world have been storming Danish embassies, burning Danish and American (why American?) flags, and killing people.

Over cartoons.

So what’s the difference? Violence is an irrational response to criticism. Peaceful demonstrations such as picketing, boycotting, marching, writing letters to the editor…these are appropriate responses to speech such as literature, artwork, or journalism that an individual or a group finds offensive. The difference is cultural freedom, and highlights the strengths of western culture and the weaknesses of the more repressive Muslim regimes.

Traditionally, Muslims have had no peaceful outlet for political dissent. Those that spoke out against their religious or secular dictators suffered imprisonment or worse. Most Muslims just don’t have the experience with political freedom to participate in a reasonable, even-tempered discourse or protest. Violence is the only recourse they understand because they haven’t been exposed to more peaceful methods.

True, some of the protesters are in countries which are not predominantly Muslim. While excuses might be made for the ignorance of protesters who live in oppression, the actions of Muslims in free nations is inexcusable. These are people that should understand that problems can be worked out through peaceful demonstration and debate, without storming embassies and killing innocents.

While there I make no call for the American government to support the content of Jyllands-Posten, it should support the freedom of the press guaranteed in the American constitution and condemn the violence spawned by this tiny bit of political fluff.

After all, they’re just cartoons.