Danish Cartoon Controversy the Danish

Danish Cartoon Controversy

The Danish people enjoy a democracy in which they have freedom of the press and freedom of expression, much the same as the U.S. Constitution provides for American citizens. But freedom of the press in one part of the world can lead to anger, violence, and rage in another part of the world. That's what has happened subsequent to the publishing in Danish newspapers (and other European publications) of a dozen cartoons that were caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed. This happened in 2005 and 2006.

One of the principals involved in this controversy are the editorial rights that artists have to create those images under the Danish constitution's provision for freedom of the press and freedom of expression. So the Danes responsible for these depictions felt they had the right and the artistic license to create them. It is absolutely ethical for a journalist to observe one of the most fundamental principles of democracy -- freedom to express ideas (however repugnant they may be). Democratic values allow individual expression to be put forward in a public forum.

The other principle is the Islam's prohibition against physical representations of the prophet of Islam. The principle here (in the matter of Muslims' antipathy towards the caricatures) is actually based a religious tenet, and that is, drawing a picture of the prophet is one thing. While Muslim social values are based in large part on their religion, in the West (Europe, Canada and the U.S. social values are often based on political tenets (constitutions are political documents).

Meantime, in Arab countries, there are numerous representations of Mohammed to be found in the public. Reza Aslan writes in Slate magazine that "In some [of the drawings of Mohammed that are seen in the Muslim world] the prophet's face is obscured by a pillar of fire that rises from beneath his chin in a veil of flames" and in others there is a "golden nimbus [cloud] over his head" (Aslan, 2006). But while some Muslim sects (Sunnis in particular) disapprove of any depictions of the prophet, "there has never been any large-scale furor over them" because they put the prophet in a "positive light" (Aslan).

However, the cartoons offend Muslims because they are seen as derogatory and slanderous. One of the cartoons has the prophet with devil's horns on his head; another has the prophet with a stick of dynamite (lit) sticking out of his turban. Still another depicts him with a black patch over his eyes and he is carrying a machete. The fact that the cartoons mock the prophet is part of the reason for the anger in the Muslim world; but moreover, many Muslims despise Western values, Western politicians and the West in general (partly because of the West's support of Israel), and so Muslims are outraged that Western journalists would publish these cartoons. The angry Muslims believe Western values have crept into their culture already, and they resent it (Arab politician wearing Western-style suits and ties, for example). Now with the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and the West's support of the U.S., add derogatory cartoons into the mix and an explosion of rage occurs; it is a clash of principles and values.