Muslims in Europe are now at odds with newspapers in Europe. I haven't written about this issue yet (there has been so much going on lately, it's hard to keep up with everything), so here's the basics:
A major clash between European press freedom and Islamic religious sensibility escalated Thursday. More European newspapers published cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed, and gunmen surrounded the European Union offices in Gaza demanding apologies.The dispute began Sept. 30, when the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten ran a dozen cartoons to criticize what it saw as self-censorship by artists in response to Islamic pressure. Demonstrations and boycotts against Denmark erupted across the Muslim world after a Norwegian magazine reprinted the cartoons last month.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I feel that calling Mohammad a terrorist is not a good thing to do. On the other hand, I don't think that you need armed gunmen to help voice your displeasure for the offense.
The problem is that "Islamic law forbids depictions of the prophet." As we all know very well by now, when you mess with someone's religion, you have their full attention. And not in a good way.
Danish newspapers, however, are not governed by Muslim law. They have the freedom of the press, and can print pretty much whatever they want, as long as it is not libelous. The same goes for the French, German and Swiss newspapers that ran the cartoons. They are within their rights to print the newspapers - but should they?
That is the fundamental question here. Should a newspaper, or other media outlets, observe the religious taboos of various religions. And if so, where does it stop? If a prominent evangelical leader said that reading about gay relations is bad, would newspapers in America have to stop printing stories about homosexuals? Of course, that is an extreme example, but you get my point. At what point do we have to stop?
I don't have any solutions. This is a question that people in each country and at each newspaper have to ask themselves.
But I do know one thing - this situation is dangerous.
This situation can easily grow out of control; remember the French muslim riots. At this volatile time, it would only take one spark for this to not only happen in France, but in many European countries with large Muslim populations. And that is something we definitely do not need to see or go through.
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The thing is that this has escalted to being more than about the cartoons now. It is about newspapers thumbing there collective noses at what they see as attempts to place restrictions on them. Newspapers are notably tectchy when it comes to there 'own turf' and tend to rise to the occasion. The fact remains that Islamic law is correctly not Danish law. Secular law should be the norm supported by progressives in all cases I think.
Ultimately if a newspaper prints something in bad taste then they are subject to the rule of the market: don't buy it. I don't think we can allow relativism to rule here. Where do we stop if we advocate special treatment for one religion. All religion is open to criticism. I am sure fundementalist Christians would find the Simpsons offensive but nobody would seriously suggest taking it off the air. Freedom is not for those who agree with you but those who disagree.