Are you offended by the blasphemous cartoons against the Prophet (peace be upon him)?
146876
Frankly, I'm not. I still don't quite understand why\neffigies of our leaders and the American and various\nEuropean flags can be burned without consequence,\nanti-Semitic and -Christian cartoons can be drawn in\nMuslim newspapers, and jihad can be declared on\nChristianity but as soon as a Danish newspaper\nexercises their freedom from censorship all hell\nbrakes loose. Guess what! That was done in THEIR OWN\ncountry--a European country that (I'm going out on a\nlimb on this one) is predominantly Christian. There\nare no rules about it--that I am aware of. Countries\nthat are predominantly Muslim have their own\ntraditions and rules that all foreigners must follow\nrespectfully within their borders. Countries, such as\nthe United States have traditions too. Guess what! We\nmodify these traditions so that we don't step on the\ntoes of foreigners who would raise hell if we tried to\ndo the same within their land.\n\nMY responses to some comments that were made...\n\nTo: patrick_mont:\n\nWatch what I do???\n\nOr what, you're gonna bomb me? That's exactly the\nproblem. Whatever your stand is on the war, I think\nthat most can agree that the "tradition" that we were\nattempting to change in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN was the\nremoval of people that brought pain and suffering to\ntheir own kind and not a change of Islamic faith or\ntradition. The pain continues because extremists\ncontinue to push on and apparently misunderstand our\npurpose for being there--much like you do.\n\nTo: msaelshamy:\n\nYes, I am a Christian and very honestly, no I would\nnot be upset by a cartoon depicting a Christian\nreligious figure. Maybe it's because I'm a bad person\nand only go to church on Christmas Eve, who knows.\nWhat I do know is that I have more important things to\nworry about than some cartoon or somebody calling me a\nstereotypical white male. Wait, isn't that\nstereotyping ME? Who cares. Freedom of speech does not\nallow one to incite violence or induce panic. It does\nallow one to express an opinion on just about\nanything, including religion. It doesn't happen in the\npress for fear of losing one's job or reprisals by the\noffended party. The cartoon is a sign of protest\nagainst Muslims using their religion as an excuse to\nmurder non-muslims (In response to the person who told\nme that burning the American flag was in response to\nAmerican Foreign policy). If fanatical Muslims did not\nwant violence associated with the Prophet, they have\ngone about doing it the wrong way by citing their\nreligion as the reason for their actions. I've seen\nthe videos. What person in their right mind yells "God\nis great!" while severing someone's head or detonating\na bomb?\n\nADDITION ON 2/6/06\n\nThe situation continues to get worse as Muslim\nprotests continue to grow increasingly violent. People\nhave died. Buildings have been set ablaze. This is\nover a cartoon. This is the work of not a just few\nreligious fanatics, but of scores of Muslims who\ndenounce the cartoon of the Prophet. A CARTOON! How\nabout rising up when an innocent Westerner (aid\nworker, member of the press, etc) is beheaded or your\nown people (Muslims) are blown up in a crowded market\nor at a wedding by a devout follower of Islam?\n\nADDITION ON 2/7/06\nWHAT EXCUSES ISLAMIC HATRED? BY TIM RUTTEN OF THE LA\nTIMES\n(Excerpts) 2/7/06\n\n"By last week, Danes faced not only violent protests\nin Islamic streets but also mounting demands from\ngovernments in the Middle East and elsewhere that the\ndo something to the newspaper."\n\n"All this would be slightly more edifying if it didn't\nreflect the destructive, dangerous double standard\nthat Western nations routinely observe when it comes\nto the government-controlled media in Islamic states.\nThere, the media are routinely rife with the vilest\nsort of hate directed at Jews and, less often,\nChristians."\n\n"If you want to see the cont
1100458
no i wouldn't be offended b/c i wouldn't care.  i don't believe in any of those bible fairytales.
968932
most of us are offended by the individuals--not the faith or religion, the people themselves--why can't you grasp that concept?
387835
dude give us a break, or at least a date for judgement day so i can prepare an answer\n\nand are u putting words in gods mouth....how does ur priest/minister/pastor feel about such blasphemy??
158474
The same reason they make cartoons of anything.  For fun.  I think that the whole uprising and the threats of war are stupid.  Yes, the prophet Muhammad said to his followers that he did not want to be idolized, but the artist is not Muslim and the Muslims didn't draw it.  No harm no foul.  Now they are trying to get back by drawing cartoons of the holocaust.  Like we're going to fly off the handle?  We're not the insane terrorist bombers like the few that reside within the Muslim religion.
165766
No, and neither is Islam, nor Judaism. Thousands of years ago, violence against those who didn't believe in the same stuff you did was acceptable and the norm.\n\nBut the thing is, America and Europe realized this (around the time of the Renaissance), and made their governments and society more secular. Islam never did, and thus they still cling to the notion of "We're offended by your cartoons depicting us as violent! Burn and die, infidel scum!"
148769
Muslims have a rule that bans painting any picture of Islam holy men and a caricature of Islam prophet surely brings anger to Muslims so the question is why a danish newspaper has published such a debatable thing.\nI think at the moment we need peace not fights.
225098
It's blasphemy. It's disrespectful. People should honor God, not curse him. He created us all, and we at least owe him our respect and our love. Don't you agree? Actually, when it comes to all other foul words, I can tolerate them...but I can't tolerate blasphemers. To tell you the brutal truth- and I am more honest than most people- I do curse sometimes, myself, when I get very very angry. But then, I apologize and repent to God after the fact. I know that no one is perfect. I just believe that cursing should be avoided as best as humanly possible.
139650
Remember, the U.S. had nothing to do with that "cartoon"!  get over it.  You don't see Christians burning buildings and killing people when someone draws a cartoon of Jesus!  I have nothing against Muslims.  It's the radical uneducated jerks that need to learn tolerance.
143343
Intolerance is exactly what is happening in the Middle East, people dying because of a cartoon? Jissss. You up for that intolerance? See where it leads you. Good luck.
1158636
FUNNY HOW AROUND THE WORLD  there were massive portests against the cartoons even people killed, embassies burned, diplomats attacked and boycots of denmark...\n\n\nBut why none against the treatment of women in islam, \nforced arranged marriage,\n the lack of gay rights with gays executed, \ngirls stoned to death for making love etc...\n\nWHERE WAS THE OUTRAGE?\n\nIe important stuff not silly cartoons...\n\nIf I was Allah Id say stop sucking up to me go rescue the girls...
923478
I disagree with them, I think it is rather fanatical for my taste.\n\n\nGod Bless You
83884
NOOOOO my man, lack of education and intolerance is when you bomb buildings, kill civilians, and kidnap members of the press !!!!!!! Don't you think those cartoon were the press response to the kidnapings of their fellow jurnalists (from their own or other countries) ???????
112416
definitely. cant u see the offences & insults for: white, black, reddish ppl, asians, arabs, jews, muslims & even jesus himself? like, all the christians, us"the americans"  are wow or ew, all the jewishes are disgusting or all the muslims are terrorists or vice versa!
305846
The Prince is not a Muslim and neither am I. But he, like myself, apparently wishes to learn about the Muslim faith in order to understand the people. It is through learning that misunderstanding and prejudice can be defeated and peace is possible. He wants to promote a positive attitude between Muslims and his own faith, just as I do. Not all Muslims are Godforsaken animals like Osama Bin Ladin. What is wrong with the Prince being a diplomat? He will be King one day and if I were a British citizen, I would want our King to use diplomacy and to promote peace. When our Towers collapsed, it was then that I took an interest in Islam and Muslims because I just wanted to understand the culture. I knew in my heart that Bin Ladin was not a man of God and I did not wish to condemn all Muslims nor Islam. It would be a grave injustice to do so. I remain Christian and I now have many Muslim friends and they are wonderful, caring, peace loving people. I too believe that the cartoon of Muhammed should be condemned and that it was a horrible, disprespectful thing to do. How would the English feel if someone did something like that to the Queen? While I'm sure it's happened, I'm quite sure that it offended people. Even as an American, I would be offended if someone did that to the Royal family as I am of British descent. If you wish to judge the Prince, then look at both sides of the coin. I commend Charles and the people of England for not condemning all Muslims as so many around the world do. Education and positive relations between cultures are the key to peace in my book. To remain open minded is to remain open hearted and God knows we need that now.
991925
Thank you for asking, \nAlthough it is not compulsory for a non-Muslim to say peace be upon him after the name of any of the Prophets, it is extremely polite and is like a very short prayer for that prophet.  \nIn no way does it go against your religion or is it offensive to say it, so I would like to hear it from a christian especially because they have faith and believe in God.
970727
Surely you know that Muslims believe a depiction of the Prophet (or anyone, really) is blasphemous imitation and a violation of God's prohibition of "graven images".\n\nFor that matter, no one has a clue what the apostles, or Jesus, really looked like.  All those portraits are symbolic.