timeimmortal

Yup, one of the Muhammad cartoonists was about to have a run-in with the peaceful practitioners of the Religion of Peace.

Danish police arrested several people Tuesday suspected of plotting to kill one of the 12 cartoonists behind the Prophet Muhammad drawings that sparked an uproar in the Muslim world two years ago, authorities said.

The arrests were made in pre-dawn raids in Aarhus, western Denmark, “to prevent a terror-related murder,” the police intelligence agency said. It did not say how many people were arrested nor did it mention which cartoonist was targeted.

Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the drawings on Sept. 30, 2005, said the suspects were planning to kill its cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, 73.

“There were very concrete murder plans against Kurt Westergaard,” said Carsten Juste, the paper’s editor-in-chief.

…

Westergaard’s cartoon, which showed Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a lit fuse, was one of the most controversial.

There is a very real and terrible reality at work in the world — insult Islam, or say anything to criticize it or its (false) prophet, and you take your life in your own hands.

The cartoons were later reprinted by a range of Western publications, and they sparked deadly protests in parts of the Muslim world.

Now, I’m generally in favour of the argument that suggests that the rage and murder one sees coming out of the Islamic community is the work of a handful of radicals, and not supported by the wider population. Until I remember that millions of Muslims world-wide rioted after the publication of these cartoons and called for the deaths of the newspaper editors who published them, and of the authors who drew them. That wasn’t the work of a handful of radicals, but of millions of everyday folks who took to the streets in riots that ultimately claimed several lives, including that of a priest. Interestingly, none of the murder victims were, to my recollection, Danes.

But why should that matter? One dead infidel is as good as another, right?

Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

I also want to believe that Islam is a religion whose adherents are capable of a measure of reason, but then I remember bits of theology like this and have to give my head a shake. Why, at times, does it seem that all of Islam is pre-supposed on conspiracy theories and fear of the weakness of the religion’s adherents. Or, to put it another way, Catholicism has a huge body of art tradition devoted to depictions not only of Christ, but of Mary and the saints as well. And while Jack Chick and his cohort of fans might assert that this makes us idolaters, as a practicing Catholic I can assure the reader that to say so could not be farther from the truth. Simple depictions are nothing to fear, and there is no reason to fear that the depiction itself will become an idol.

Is the average Muslim in the street capable of separating in mind the depiction of the prophet from the actual man (neither of which should be worshipped anyway — all worship should be directed unto God)? Or is the average Muslim so ignorant that he cannot tell the difference between a picture of the prophet and the actual man who lived some 1400 years ago?

Kathy links to an amusing, if vulgar, response to those who would plot to murder the cartoonists, and I can’t help but agree with some of its sentiments. In many respects, the Muslim immigrants to Western nations come fleeing economic despair, war, famine, or any of the myriad problems that otherwise afflict third-world nations. They come from divided families and unsafe locales. And in the West, they can find reunion and safety, freedom and support. In many respects, they can even find governments willing to pay them for being there, via public welfare funds.

And what can the West expect in return? More and more, it seems that all the West can expect is honour killings, violent riots based on the slightest imagined provocation, and demands for Sharia law. And, now, plots to murder cartoonists.

Update: Welcome, Steynians!