Why did the Muslims "flip out" over a cartoon? Don't they have better things to fight over?
91516
Heres the deal. ANY illustration of Mohammed by a Muslim is forbidden. \n\nHowever, it is only forbidden for Muslims. \n\nIts absurd. A comparison would be if Jews all over the world protested and rioted because *somebody* ate pork.
378452
It is a good question, and something that I as a muslim, get very upset about.\n\nFirstly as I am sure you know Islam Completely against Violence.\n\nI think we as muslims do not do enough to make this clear to non- muslims. And we let the fanatics takes over Islam.\n\nThere is a victim mentality, that is always blaming somebody else for what is going wrong. Also there is a problem that muslims to not like to criticise other muslims, even if there are doing something totally wrong.\n\nI live in England, and I have muslim friends who will not condemn the suicide bombers in London because they are muslim, and they say they must have right reasons in their mind for that act. \n\nMany people protest about the Americans in Iraq, quite rightly, but more muslims are killed by other muslims like Zarqawi. I don't see too many people outside Iraq rushing to protest against his actions. Most people are against is actions but why are they quiet. He is as big a evil as Bush.\n\nFor the cartoons I was against them, and I am lucky to live in a country where they are not published, but by protesting against in the way they proved the cartooners right. (it was unaccept for some muslims to say kill all danish) And why do people not get as upset bu terrorist attacts in the name of Islam?? These are REALLY a blaspheme against god.\nAlso it is very unfortunate that some muslims make simular cartoons against jews. The Iranian newspapers response to run a cartoon about the horoculst was appalling and un Islamic. I sometimes think Muslims have double stands like the their criticise the west as having.\n\n\nThe media DO high light bad behaviour by muslims over good, \nBut we are often to blame because WE donot make our voice strong enough when other muslim do bad things in the name of Islam.\n\nIt is easy to fall in a victim mentality, when people attack us and become defensive. \nBUT it is better for us to PROVE the attackers wrong by confronting people who misuse islam..
597212
I got the joke... it's not all bad.\n\nBut I don't know if it is such a good idea to joke about this. It may seem strange to us today that there should be ANY limit on free speech. But this is THE BOTTOM to push if one wish to engage a Muslim in a death dual.\n\nThe law of their religion is full of sins punishable by death. Not unlike our religion BTW. The difference is that, they still feel obligated to carry out that punishment.
144189
Islam stands strong and firm amidst the misinformation, malpractice and ignorance about it. Success is promised to those who adhere to the Qur'aan and Sunnah, following the guidance and keeping away from prohibitions. All the issues we face in today's complex world are put into their proper context as we keep ourselves under the shade of Allah, the Most Merciful.\n   There is no doubt that the offensive cartoons are part of the propaganda which accompanies warfare. They serve to ridicule and humiliate the enemy. They are no innocent expressions of so-called freedom of speech.The provocative cartoons were intended as an attack against Muslims and that which they hold sacred. Art cannot be taken as an excuse for abuse. \n    Allah the almighty also wants us to be strong and show those attack us no mercy, we did the right thing by boycotted Danish goods and when the Egyptian owner of the French newspaper France Soir sacked his editor, those were the right responses. \n    They were saying to the perpetrators: Put your money where your mouth is, attack us if you want to, but be prepared to pay the price. The Jewish lobby have very successfully ostracised anybody whose anti-Zionist views they did not like as anti-Semitic and ensured corresponding sanctions. Let the Muslims do the same.\n they were trying and still trying to destroy Islam and muslim but they can't, they are afraid because islam is growing bigger and stronger. Allah want us to be patient when someone makes you angry and don't react in the same manner. Forgive those who treated you badly in anticipation of Forgiveness of your LORD to your sins and excesses on The Day of Judgement.\n   we are strongest nation ever that what makes them scared and trying to destroy muslims.\n When the United States prepared to attack Iraq they first softened up their target by words and economic sanctions. Since then they have put all of Islam into their sights and hope to destroy one Muslim nation after the other. Maybe their cartoons have spelt this fact out more clearly and maybe they can provide a wake-up and rallying call for Muslims the world over, but only if it is clearly understood that you don’t defend God or his prophet by continuing to do business with their enemies.
112677
Cartoons and caricatures are sometimes intended to make people think. Get over it! All the whining and thumbsucking about something so trivial. Find something better to do. Do you realize the good things that could have been done with the energy expended on this? What a joke on humankind.
130076
Personally, I'm a Christian and an American and I don't think that the Muslims are trying to take over the world. Yes, they are angry at what's been done with the cartoon because those idiots in Denmark (not all the Danish) insulted and degraded their beloved prophet Mohammed. It was wrong of them to do this to the Muslim people. Yes, I do agree that what the ones that are committing the violence are wrong and it must be stopped,  but I do understand their outrage though it does not justify violence and bloodshed. The Muslims have been treated very badly since Osama Bin Ladin did what he did because he claims to follow Islam. He used his religion to promote violence and terror and that is what really started the hatred and fear of the Muslim people. He is not a true Muslim. The situation with the Muslims and the rioting is boiling over and the Muslim leaders need to act now before there is anymore bloodshed. We in America are being blamed because the middle east has issues with us anyway and it's easier to direct their anger toward the US but the Muslims that are attacking America for what Denmark has done, are wrong and on this, they owe us an apology. We had nothing to do with Denmark's blasphemy towards Mohammed and they are wrong in blaming us. I defend the good Muslims but I will certainly speak out against those that are wrong. They, like us, don't know everything there is to know about each other and our customs and religions. Perhaps if we would all take the time to learn about one another, we would find peace. Still, Muslim or Christian, we are all one family under God and it's time to realize that and heal. God bless.
1096273
Because all they need is a tiny bit of incentive to go off on a killing spree.  And it works doesn't it?  Look how so many came out condemning the cartoons in order to pacify the radicals.  Every time they go off the deep end, the rest of the world is standing there in horror and fear then finally succumbing to siding with the extremists just so the violence stops.  It's a very effective way of silencing the masses and getting what they want.  Which is the first step in forceful conversion to Islam.
126495
Maybe this is only matter of disrespect, as this kind of things happened all the time no matter to what religion...if people always take these too seriosly, they may able to express their point/feeling, but they also lost the peace among others then what is the benefit?\n\nIf muslim have true peace in their heart, they won't bother.
84016
-From the source quoted below...\n\n"Controversy over the publication of images depicting Mohammed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten has erupted into an international furor. While Muslims worldwide are calling for a boycott of Denmark and any other nation whose press reprints the cartoons, Europeans are trying to stand up for Western principles of freedom of speech and not cave in to self-censorship in the name of multiculturalism and fear."\n\n"While the debate rages, an important point has been overlooked: despite the Islamic prohibition against depicting Mohammed under any circumstances, hundreds of paintings, drawings and other images of Mohammed have been created over the centuries, with nary a word of complaint from the Muslim world. The recent cartoons in Jyllands-Posten are nothing new; it's just that no other images of Mohammed have ever been so widely publicized. "\n\n<snip>\n\nIt's also hypothsised that the situation was inflamed by the addition of 3 images that were NOT printed by the Danish newspaper.\n\n"Yet when a delegation of Danish imams went to the Middle East to discuss the issue of the cartoons with senior officials and prominent Islamic scholars, the imams openly distributed a booklet that showed 15 images -- not only the original 12 cartoons, but three fraudulent anti-Mohammed depictions that were much more offensive than the ones published in Denmark. It is now thought that these three bonus images are what ignited the outrage in the Muslim world. The newspaper Ekstra Bladet obtained a copy of the booklet and presented the three offensive images on its Web site (though not in an easy-to-find place). All look like low-quality photocopies."\n\nIt comes down to a clash of cultures and an intolerance of world views. Perhaps with a little provocation thrown in. I can't explain the level of violence though. Seems pretty extreme.
488593
Jesus was mocked in cartoons and painting even more than Moham, but the Christians know better than picking up their pitch fork, and kill people, and burn their places of worship as the Muslims do so many times.\nAnd no, the number who rioted against the cartoon was large, not a few people, you should've watched the news better.\nA priest in Turkey was murder over the cartoon, and he has nothing to do it, the only reason was he was a christian and a Priest, innocent man.  I Pakistan, in Indonesia, Egypt, Syria, etc. \nThe world would NOT let a movie or a book be release about Mohammed, true or fiction, because we all are afraid of what the Muslim will do to us, and those who are not afraid! are being too PC even to the death of us all, physical or metaphysically.\n\nFor those who think the book has truth in it, try this for size!  Mohammed married a very young girl! his sons wife! a captive from one of his wars! had many slaves... just some.  What would the Muslim do if someone point them out in a book, or parish the thought a movie!  :0  heads will roll.
289450
It was only a contest, not directed to anyone.\nThe problem was because Muslims thought that they were made by Christians to make fun of their religion.\nThe problem will expand more, the more Muslims make more fails in their own lives.
84732
No one forces them to look at the cartoons.\nThey should just get over it!\nThey claim to be peaceful but they don't live it.
121723
The cartoon showed a picture of mohammed with a bomb in his turban. \nIt was supposed to be saying that muslims are violent from their early roots. Then they protested through the streets burning european embassies shouting "behead those who insult islam" and didn't do themselves any favours in dispelling that image.
146876
Frankly, I'm not. I still don't quite understand why\neffigies of our leaders and the American and various\nEuropean flags can be burned without consequence,\nanti-Semitic and -Christian cartoons can be drawn in\nMuslim newspapers, and jihad can be declared on\nChristianity but as soon as a Danish newspaper\nexercises their freedom from censorship all hell\nbrakes loose. Guess what! That was done in THEIR OWN\ncountry--a European country that (I'm going out on a\nlimb on this one) is predominantly Christian. There\nare no rules about it--that I am aware of. Countries\nthat are predominantly Muslim have their own\ntraditions and rules that all foreigners must follow\nrespectfully within their borders. Countries, such as\nthe United States have traditions too. Guess what! We\nmodify these traditions so that we don't step on the\ntoes of foreigners who would raise hell if we tried to\ndo the same within their land.\n\nMY responses to some comments that were made...\n\nTo: patrick_mont:\n\nWatch what I do???\n\nOr what, you're gonna bomb me? That's exactly the\nproblem. Whatever your stand is on the war, I think\nthat most can agree that the "tradition" that we were\nattempting to change in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN was the\nremoval of people that brought pain and suffering to\ntheir own kind and not a change of Islamic faith or\ntradition. The pain continues because extremists\ncontinue to push on and apparently misunderstand our\npurpose for being there--much like you do.\n\nTo: msaelshamy:\n\nYes, I am a Christian and very honestly, no I would\nnot be upset by a cartoon depicting a Christian\nreligious figure. Maybe it's because I'm a bad person\nand only go to church on Christmas Eve, who knows.\nWhat I do know is that I have more important things to\nworry about than some cartoon or somebody calling me a\nstereotypical white male. Wait, isn't that\nstereotyping ME? Who cares. Freedom of speech does not\nallow one to incite violence or induce panic. It does\nallow one to express an opinion on just about\nanything, including religion. It doesn't happen in the\npress for fear of losing one's job or reprisals by the\noffended party. The cartoon is a sign of protest\nagainst Muslims using their religion as an excuse to\nmurder non-muslims (In response to the person who told\nme that burning the American flag was in response to\nAmerican Foreign policy). If fanatical Muslims did not\nwant violence associated with the Prophet, they have\ngone about doing it the wrong way by citing their\nreligion as the reason for their actions. I've seen\nthe videos. What person in their right mind yells "God\nis great!" while severing someone's head or detonating\na bomb?\n\nADDITION ON 2/6/06\n\nThe situation continues to get worse as Muslim\nprotests continue to grow increasingly violent. People\nhave died. Buildings have been set ablaze. This is\nover a cartoon. This is the work of not a just few\nreligious fanatics, but of scores of Muslims who\ndenounce the cartoon of the Prophet. A CARTOON! How\nabout rising up when an innocent Westerner (aid\nworker, member of the press, etc) is beheaded or your\nown people (Muslims) are blown up in a crowded market\nor at a wedding by a devout follower of Islam?\n\nADDITION ON 2/7/06\nWHAT EXCUSES ISLAMIC HATRED? BY TIM RUTTEN OF THE LA\nTIMES\n(Excerpts) 2/7/06\n\n"By last week, Danes faced not only violent protests\nin Islamic streets but also mounting demands from\ngovernments in the Middle East and elsewhere that the\ndo something to the newspaper."\n\n"All this would be slightly more edifying if it didn't\nreflect the destructive, dangerous double standard\nthat Western nations routinely observe when it comes\nto the government-controlled media in Islamic states.\nThere, the media are routinely rife with the vilest\nsort of hate directed at Jews and, less often,\nChristians."\n\n"If you want to see the cont
874470
I think I actually killed more brain cells reading their propaganda. They warp it because they need an excuse to be violent, and it undoubtedly gives them a sense of community and struggling against evil that is difficult to describe in words. Its really just a Christianized version of the Muslim Jihadists who fight for the same reasons: to kill, and to be united against a common set of enemies. Hatred is actually quite fun, and both groups capitalize on it. I don't know how to describe this, but its just like Hitler's use of hate to unite Germany only in a religious format instead of ethnic/political.
171873
They dont respect the Islamic values. \nDont u get angry when someone draw your mom with the body of a pig? \nImagine someone draw their prophet with a pig body.\nWhat's the purpose? It doesnt make any sense unless negative movement.
125930
The only way that they could find him guilty of it is that they have a law against it.  They could not possibly found him guilty and fined him if it were not against the law.  They side with the newspapers for the sake of freedom of speech, which is also a law throughout most of the Western World.  The fact that Europe has laws in many countries against speaking out and denying the Holocost is because they had concentration camps in their countries and many of their citizens were either killed or worked there.  These laws are on the books in these countries out of respect for what has happened in History.  This is not a difference of Muslim and Jew, these are two completely different things.  The Muslim belief that the Holocost is a myth is unfounded, however that is the way you feel.  It just happens to be against the law to talk that way about it publicly in some countries.  The cartoons that has enraged the Muslim world were not meant to be religious cartoons but political statements, it happens that they were in bad taste because Muslims are not wanting to look beyond the insult of their Prophet's Image being used.  That is a problem when you are dealing across different cultures.  In hindsight I am sure all involved with these cartoon's wish they had never happened and most will not allow that to happen again, however in our culture we allow for these kind of things when dealing with freedom of the press and speech.