Islam & The West

Islam in Uproar Over Cartoon

I was talking to a friend of mine tonight who wondered why it takes a cartoon to get Islam globally furious while there is hardly a peep from their corner when journalists and civilians are beheaded.

That question in itself exposes a fundamental rift. My friend was looking at the world through a Judeo Christian lens and that will get you no where. There is a fundamental difference between Islam and Judeo-Christian society that is even more profound than the difference between blacks and whites. For starters, at least blacks and whites see the value in co-existing.

Islam does not see humor in that carton. They see only a defaced image of Muhammad, verboten in the Koran. There is no room for intellectual curiosity in Islam. No humor when it comes to Islam. No debate. No detachment. No separation of Islam and the self. It is a completely Manichean world and saying what you would do in a similar situation will get you no where. You can’t whore around on Saturday night and then go to church and be forgiven on Sunday. It just doesn’t work that way in Islam.

My brother lived in that world for many years and told me of driving on busy two-way roads at night with no traffic lights and no dividing barriers or even lines between opposite directions of traffic. People died all the time. It was particularly harrowing when he was riding in a taxi and had no control as the drivers were unafraid and reckless. There was nothing to be afraid of, if they died they died. It didn’t matter. If Allah wanted them he would take them. And much of that world believes the afterlife will be better. We in the Western world enjoy mortal life. Big difference.

One of the ways to think about this is to think about in image of a defaced Moses. No matter how religious you are, you probably would not get too riled up. As a matter of fact, when I said “Moses” an image of Chuck Heston probably popped into your head and not the thought of how the 10 Commandments are very important. And that is the fundamental difference between the West and Islam. Religion is a facet of our life while religion is their entire life.