Tag Archives: Cartoon

A Muslim Also Objects

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In the Name of God, the Kind, the Beautiful

So much has been made of the so-called “Muslims” of Revolution Muslim, a fanatical fringe group rejected by American Muslims, who made a thinly-veiled threat against Comedy Central for their recent depiction of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). It led to the pervasively hateful “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” on Facebook, which was hardly an exercise of free speech, but more of an anti-Islam hate fest. Yet, Comedy Central is at it again, this time with a proposed series called “JC.”

“JC” is a cartoon series which would depict Jesus Christ as a “regular guy” who moves to New York to “escape his father’s enormous shadow.” Network spokesman Tony Fox noted that the show is only an idea, and the script is not even completed. Despite this fact, a number of religious groups and conservative leaders have chimed in against this show. A newly formed group, Citizens Against Religious Bigotry, believes the show would be offensive. They are joined by the Catholic League, the Parents Television Council, and talk show host Michael Medved. The coalition has claimed to have written to 250 Comedy Central advertisers and have 93,000 petition signatures against the show.

The group is decrying a double standard in which Christian figures are mocked, but the Prophet Muhammad is off limits for fear of offending Muslims. Michael Medved also said, “Does that indicate that Christians then are punished because they aren’t crazy? that they get punished because their religion does not encourage threats of violence?”

I object to his statement here. Our religion does not encourage threats of violence, even though some adherents have in the past. If anything, it is the Bible that threatens death for anyone who take the Lord’s name in vain:

And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him…And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed [the LORD] out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses. (Leviticus 24:16)

But, I digress…

The main thing is this quote: “You don’t have to be a Christian to be offended by this,” said Brent Bozell, head of the watchdog Media Research Center.

I agree. I am also offended by this proposed show, and I urge Comedy Central not to go ahead with the show. Jesus Christ, while not God in my belief, is still an extremely important religious figure to me. I honor and revere Christ as the Messiah, the son of Mary, a mighty and blessed Prophet of God. He performed many miracles by God’s leave, and he was an amazing religious figure. I object to Comedy Central having him live life in NY city as a “regular guy” who tries to “escape his father’s enormous shadow.” I urge the people at Comedy Central to show sensitivity to the feelings and religious sensibilities of not only hundreds of millions of Christians, but also hundreds of millions of Muslims as well. Jesus Christ, as does any religious figure, deserves respect and reverence, not ridicule and derision.

Muslims are as offended when Christ, or Moses, or any other Prophet or religious figure is maligned by popular culture. It is just as hurtful to me to see the show “JC” being made as it is showing the Prophet Muhammad in a bear suit. While I most probably do not agree with most of the views of people like Brent Bozell and Michael Medved, on this issue I take common cause with them. And see? The sky did not fall.

Thank You, Mr. Trudeau

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In the Name of God, the Kind, the Beautiful

This was published on The Seeker blog.

As many people in the nation eagerly participated in the “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” – and I actively ignored it (except for praying for the Prophet) – Doonesbury published an interesting cartoon strip. It seemed to poke fun at religion in general, and a few religions in particular: Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, and Mormonism. Frankly, I was surprised that he did not pick on Islam, which seems to be the religion du jour to insult and malign.

And I must admit that the cartoon made me chuckle slightly, and I feel a little bad about it. That is because I am sure this line probably offended a good number of my fellow Americans:

My Dad’s Mormon, and my Mom used to be Catholic, but she swtiched to Hinduism. I think it was mostly for the Yoga…She likes to lead stretchouts for dad’s other wives.

Now, I must also disclose that I also chuckled at one of the infamous Danish cartoons which depicted the Prophet telling a line of suicide terrorists: “Stop, stop! We ran out of virgins!” I actually thought it was pretty funny, even though the cartoon depicted the Prophet’s image.

Still, I can appreciate that the Doonesbury cartoon would be hurtful to many people, especially since my faith and Prophet has been the subject of rabid and relentless vitriol. But, maybe G.B. Trudeau wanted us to all step back and relax: maybe he wanted to teach us that we can poke fun at our own and each other’s faiths and not have the sky fall down upon us.

I do it all the time with my own friends: if someone is serving pepperoni pizza (I can’t eat pork), I say with a big smile on my face: “No, I can’t have that infidel pizza.” Once, I told a friend (who is atheist) that I need to drink decaf coffee, and he asked me: “Is that because Muhammad told you so?” He laughed and so did I. When I was in college, when the menu in the dorm cafeteria was “Barbeque Day,” the posters had cartoons of pigs on it. My friends would always tape the poster to my dorm room door, and I would get a huge laugh out of it.

In this hypercharged, hyper-vitriolic environment, when some Muslims and non-Muslims seem to be screaming past one another and racing to the bottom when it comes to interreligious dialogue, it may be hugely beneficial to be able to poke some fun at each other’s faiths in a light-hearted way. Maybe that’s what Mr. Trudeau was trying to do. And maybe we need to thank him profusely for it.

To see the cartoon, click here.