Drawing a picture of Mohammed…
Well, I guess no one is able to not notice the recent news from around the globe about Muslims going on streets and protesting against the cartoon drawings which originally where published in Denmark. Embassies in Arab countries are attacked, stones and petrol bombs are thrown and people already got killed. Some might scratch their heads of the troubles that are caused by “just” a few drawings. People getting killed because of that? A real tragedy! Some others think that its not just the drawings, but a growing hate between the Christian and the Muslim world.
I know very little about the Muslim world, about their culture, ego, etc. I was raised in a catholic nation within a catholic family. So what I would like do is to take a close look at my own society. When someone criticizes Jesus or even God, or a cartoon is drawn about a Christian Icon, there is usually not a huge outcry among the Christians. So what does make ordinary Christians go mad? What makes them throw rocks, burn cars and damage buildings and hurt each other? When does the police have to step in and keep Christians from killing each other?
The answer is very simple. Well, religious stuff doesn’t really get the crowds going but sports does! Think about an important football (soccer) match between an English football team and Italian football Team. The news about the aftermath there look striking similar to the recent images from Middle East.
Probably you are baptized and never threw a rock or burned a car after a soccer match, and neither did I, but that’s what the news are talking about. The news are not talking about the Muslims that stay calm, CNN reports about those who show their anger. Just because we don’t understand why Arabs go berserk when European newspapers insult their religious founder doesn’t mean that we are any better. A lot of us don’t care about Jesus or God, even though we are baptized and raised in a Christian society, but its completely normal to burn down a car or throw a rock at another person after a lost football match. Because that’s what matters to some people in Europe, a ball made of leather.
I know very little about the Muslim world, about their culture, ego, etc. I was raised in a catholic nation within a catholic family. So what I would like do is to take a close look at my own society. When someone criticizes Jesus or even God, or a cartoon is drawn about a Christian Icon, there is usually not a huge outcry among the Christians. So what does make ordinary Christians go mad? What makes them throw rocks, burn cars and damage buildings and hurt each other? When does the police have to step in and keep Christians from killing each other?
The answer is very simple. Well, religious stuff doesn’t really get the crowds going but sports does! Think about an important football (soccer) match between an English football team and Italian football Team. The news about the aftermath there look striking similar to the recent images from Middle East.
Probably you are baptized and never threw a rock or burned a car after a soccer match, and neither did I, but that’s what the news are talking about. The news are not talking about the Muslims that stay calm, CNN reports about those who show their anger. Just because we don’t understand why Arabs go berserk when European newspapers insult their religious founder doesn’t mean that we are any better. A lot of us don’t care about Jesus or God, even though we are baptized and raised in a Christian society, but its completely normal to burn down a car or throw a rock at another person after a lost football match. Because that’s what matters to some people in Europe, a ball made of leather.
posted by giovanniaureel at 2/07/2006
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