Freedom of Speech: An unknown concept in Islam

Those in the Western world defend the Danish newspaper for publishing the cartoons as an expression of free speech even though it may have been in bad taste. I agree that a publication has a right to publish material it considers newsworthy. What is offensive to one person may not be offensive to another person. However, the Muslim reaction has been to riot in the streets resulting in death and destruction.

One of the cartoons depict Mohammed in a turban fashioned from a bomb. With Muslims being the main source of terrorism in the world, the cartoon seems symbolically significant. I find it ironic that protestations in the name of religion results in death and mayhem. Isn't that the height of hyprocrisy?

This incident reveals the deep divide between the Muslims and the rest of the world. Because most Muslims live under autocratic rule, freedom of speech is a foreign concept. On the flip side, westerners do not comprehend the religious fervor of most Muslims.

It doesn't take much to upset the Muslim world. Compared to the Western world, Muslims live in poverty and despair under control of either a dictatorial ruler or a rigid clergy. They live in a culture that has not kept pace with the modern world requiring women to wear burkas and veils. Their economies are usually based on oil controlled by the government which keeps most of the money for the privileged few while the masses eek out a subsistence living. For people with these woes, religion is their only solace. Many of them are willing to blow themselves up in the hopes of a better afterlife.

I often wonder why it is so easy for Muslims to congregate for riots. Aren't any of them working? Do they get time off for rioting? It seems for many to be a fulltime job. Who organizes these things? Are the governments behind the demonstrations?

It seems like most wars are the result of religious conflicts. My God is better than your God. The Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland and now Islam versus the Western world. How can anyone justify murder in the name of religion?

As long as the Muslim people are under the control of dictators and religious leaders who refuse to decry the terrorism eminating from those professing the Muslim faith, we have a long cultural war ahead of us that will not be resolved in my lifetime. And as long as we are dependent on their oil, we will be mired in this conflict.

To those who wish to view the Danish cartoons of Mohammed, click on this link.