This cartoon appeared today in Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly associated with the radical Left. The in-house drawing portrays the prophet of Islam next to a headline, "Mahomet overwhelmed by the fundamentalists." The distraught man cries, "It's hard to be loved by fools."

Anyone who comes to my blog regularly knows that I have great affection for the planet's diversity, and that I am extremely sympathetic to the people and cultures of the middle east, but I expect I've also made it pretty clear that I consider myself an adversary not just of fundamentalism, but of all organized religions, equally, and regardless of where they are found. Okay, I admit that sometimes there's a worthy aesthetic element, but as in any other institution, that's not the part that destroys and kills.

BETTER THAN A CARTOON

Barry has uncovered the best words to appear on the subject of the cartoon war yet.

The fact that fundamentalists of all persuasions are completely incapable of self-reflection, self-criticism, and self-irony would not warrant a mention, were it not for their practice of imposing their issues on me and my world. They assume that we will kowtow to them as soon as we recognise who they are: "Look out! Religious feelings! We're leaving the private sphere."

See his site for the context of this piece and a link to Sonia Mikich's entire text.

[image from nouvelobs, via a news item from Reuters]

The U.S. and British governments criticized publication of the caricatures as offensive to Muslims, raising questions about whether the line between free speech and incitement had been crossed. [Associated Press]

One more short thought on the subject of cartoons (although as much as I would like never to have to address this stupidity again, I suspect this is only the beginning):

Our own fundamentalist Christian religio/politicos must be green with envy of their Islamist fellows for what they have been able to accomplish around the world in just a few days.

Contrary to the principles and practice of their open societies, virtually everyone of any authority in what we would like to regard as an enlightened world is currently bending over backwards to apologize (for the normal exercise of hard-won fundamental freedoms) to particularly vocal members of one cult. Our sad, clueless guardians and the institutions they control are going even further and affirming a quite new and unrestricted principle of untouchability with respect to both the practice and beliefs of that cult - and in theory at least that of any other which manages to get noticed.

Where will this end? There are lots of different religious formats out there, with lots and lots of taboos, and lots of cynical people willing to use them for their own political purposes.

We seem to be engaged in a political and cultural suicide which will be mourned by people of intelligence and good will everywhere in the world - if any of us survive the deceased ourselves.

This whole Mohammed image thing is almost perfectly ridiculous, but there is one perfect solution to the problem.

Denmark simply must not be left hanging in the wind. There is a popular, although apparently apocryphal story concerning the Danish resistance to the Nazi occupation. Supposedly the aged King Christian X left the palace on his daily ride wearing the yellow Star of David, the symbol which jews had been ordered to display prominently on their clothing.

Maybe it's just a nice story, but whatever its basis in fact, the combined efforts of the Danish population saved from extermination all but a few dozen of the nation's 6500 jews.

Let's put together a wonderful, real story with the material we've been handed sixty years later.

It's time for all newspapers, and all nations, everyone who has a media outlet, to make themselves a common target of those who would threaten the freedoms which support liberal societies.

I believe the images scorned by ignorant or cynical people who do not, or pretend not, to understand our liberties should be shown everywhere, and as prominently as is possible. Now.

We are all Danes today, regardless of our beliefs.

[image via Dutch MP Geert Wilders, who has published all 12 original cartoons on his blog]

NOTE:
It would be inappropriate under the circumstances were I not to mention the significance of the source of the very elusive image I've used and the link I provide. Geert Wilders is more than a little controversial himself.