In September, 2005, several political cartoons depicting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were published in a Danish newspaper. One of the cartoons depicted the prophet wearing a turban in the form of a bomb. The Muslim faith considers any depiction of the Prophet Muhammad as blasphemy.
In 1989, contemprary artist Andres Serrano exhibited his "Piss Christ" (Serrano's title) photogragph of a crucifix submerged in a jar of Serrano's blood and urine. The exhibit was a deliberate attempt by the artist to offend members of the Christian faith. Serrano had received a $15,000 grant for his exhibit from the National Endowment for the Arts, an agency funded by American taxpayers. In 1990, the "Tongues of Flame" exhibit by artist David Wojnarowicz consisted of several offensive depictions of Jesus Christ, including one of Jesus "mainlining" heroin by injecting a hypodermic needle into his arm. Wojnarowicz's exhibit was also funded by the NEA.
The Danish political cartoons resulted in outrage throughout Islam. The Serrano and Wojnarowicz exhibits resulted in outrage among the Christian faithful within this country. One group expressed its outrage by lawful means. The other group expressed its outrage with threats and violence. Both groups were justifiably outraged, but the difference in which that outrage was expressed is the difference between civilized and barbaric behavior.
The Christian faithful expressed their outrage through peaceful picketing of the exhibits, through media campaigns, and through their congressional representatives. No threats were issued against the lives of Serrano and Wojnarowicz. Most of the outrage was expressed against the NEA for funding these offensive exhibits, but attempts by members of Congress to withhold its funding failed.
By contrast, the outrage of Muslims was expressed by massive violent riots throughout Islam. These occurred in Gaza and the West Bank, in Syria and Lebanon, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, in Indonesia, and in most other Muslim countries. An Islamic group in Pakistan offered a bounty for the murder of the Danish cartoonists, while others threatened to cut off their hands or heads. Of special interest is the fact that, while the cartoons were published in September 2005, the rioting did not start until the end of January 2006. During that interim, Islamic clerics took those cartoons and planted them throughout the Muslim world. Thus it would seem that these violent demonstrations were planned, instigated, and orchrestrated by mullahs preaching from their religious schools and mosques.
How does one explain the differences in the way the Christian and Muslim faithful expressed their outrage when their most revered religious icons were defiled. Education made the difference. The Western nations, which are predominantly Christian, have modern educations systems, while in many parts of the Muslim world, education takes place in fundamentalist religious schools. Textbooks are full of hatred against Western culture, against Jews, and even against other Muslim sects, such as the hatred between Shiites and Sunnis. While the religious schools do teach some basic skills, the emphasis is on religion, instead of on a well-rounded modern curriculum. That helps to explain why so many Muslims live in poverty - by Western standards they are simply ignorant. The dictatorial rulers in the Arab world thrive from this ignorance - it keeps them in power.
Devout Muslims throughout the world, who have been educated in modern secular schools, did not resort to violence when the Prophet Muhammad was defiled by political cartoonists. In Lebanon, the uneducated Islamists took to the streets in violent outrage, while the educated Muslim elite remained in their homes or in their work places. Muslims who are well educated share in the world's wealth, while those from the fundamentalist religious schools will continue to live in poverty and ignorance. The difference between people educated in the Western world and Islam's uneducated masses is that Westerners express their religious outrage lawfully, while Islamists express theirs by resorting to barbaric threats and violence.
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