Muhammad cartoons, cont.

The riots are still going. Most of it is going down in Pakistan, where angry mobs are burning the American flag and trashed a KFC as a statement against all things American. Good for them. That's one way to let out your rage and anger. Here's the only thing: America had nothing to do with the cartoons. They were commissioned by a Dutch newspaper, reprinted in several european ones, and didn't even become news over here until the riots started. They were actually reprinted in an Egyptian newspaper not long after the original publication and, strangely enough, got very little reaction.


This whole thing makes me really disappointed in the Muslim world. Muslims are almost always portrayed in a negative light in America, but I've always given them the benefit of a doubt because:

1. The media (movies, books, journalists, etc.) relies on sensationalism to sell, therefore they propagate distorted stereotypes of specific cultures regardless of what the truth is. For example, after 9/11 there were numerous protests and vigils held by Muslims on behalf of America. You never saw these on the news, however, instead they would show video of Arabs burning an American flag in some obscure village; and
2. Being a Mormon I know what it is like to have people ignorantly judge my religion based on the actions of a miniscule fundamentalist sect. And I have horns and 4 wives.

Seeing the violent reaction to this whole cartoon thing, however, affirms the stereotype. I mean, think about it -- They are reacting to a portrayal of Muhammad (the symbol and founder of their religion) as a violent terrorist by burning down buildings and calling for murder. Don't they see the irony here? It pisses me off really, and shows me that their practice of Islam is worthless. It's like the idiots who beat up homosexuals or bomb abortion clinics and claim to do it on behalf of Christianity. Um, read the bible again guys. You kind of missed the whole point.

Anyways, this whole thing has made me think of a few more cartoons. I'll probably never get around to drawing them, so I'll just describe them to you. Here goes.

First One: Setting- Muhammad is standing on some clouds in heaven with Jesus, watching all this crap unravel. Muhammad is pointing exasperatedly at the middle east and says:

"Oh sure. Corrupt governments, cruel dictators, hypocritical clerics, bloodthirsty terrorists all using my name to justify their atrocious act and THIS (referring to the cartoons) is what they start rioting about." (says to Jesus): "Is this how you felt during the crusades?"

Jesus: "Yes. And every time I listen to conservative talk radio."

Second One: Again in heaven, Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, and the Bhudda are all standing on clouds in heaven, overlooking the world. God is behind them on a throne. Below are the continents of the world with their respective religious symbol(s). Attack planes, bombs, ICBM's are flying all over the place. God says: "You know, they still haven't gotten the point of the whole thing (meaning religion) yet, have they?"

Last One: Divided into four boxes. Caption at the top that says: "Which of the following is most likely to offend Muslims?" First box has a letter "A" in the corner. It shows a picture of one of Saddam Hussein's mass graves (where he ordered the slaughter of dozens of fellow Muslims). Box "B" shows masked terrorists armed with swords and rifles as in the beheading videos that are released every so often. A blindfolded hostage is kneeling before them, about to be decapitated. The typical Arabic scrawl is written across the back wall and on their headbands (I've always wondered what it says. Maybe, 'Allah is merciful' or 'Islam means Peace'). Box "C" shows a Sunni suicide bomber detonating himself at a Shi'ite wedding, killing dozens of women and children. The final box "D" shows, you guessed it, one of the Muhammad cartoons. (Hint- The correct answer is D)

So these are the ideas I have. Too bad I'm not a quicker artist or I would actually do them. That one on the last post (the one that's too small to even read) took me so long I'm not even going to try to do these ones. Oh well. Here's some cartoons from actual professionals that hit what I'm feeling.

The selective outrage of the Muslim world. They're kind of like the bully big brother who calls his little sister names then beats her up if she calls him something back.

Accurately sums up the entire Muhammad cartoon thing.

This is an alteration of the one I thought up. I swear I had mine first though.

I love this one. It gets its point across without humor. If you can't read it, the terrorist says: "We can't think of anything more offensive to the Muslim community that cartoons of Mohammed." The caption at the bottom says, "And that's the problem..."

This one is a bit lighter. Hillarious.

So that's how the professionals do it. I think it would be kind of fun to be a political cartoonist...Takes me too long to draw though. Check out Daryl Cagle's cartoon page, one of my favorite sites on the net, for more.