02/03/2006
The ongoing Mohammed cartoon kerfuffle makes it abundantly clear that many Muslims have neither the desire nor the aptitude to assimilate into western civilization. Angry Muslims have taken to the streets in Europe and the Middle East to tell us westerners that they don’t care much for our values.One son of Allah had a genuine insight:
Summing up the cultural rift between Islam and the West, imam Ahmed Abu Laban told worshippers at Friday prayers in a Copenhagen mosque: "In the West, freedom of speech is sacred; To us, the prophet is sacred." ["Furor over prophet drawings exposes widening cultural struggle in Europe"]
Wouldn’t such a disagreement indicate irreconcilable cultural differences between Islam and the west?
The immediate problem is a dozen cartoon drawings of the prophet published in a Danish newspaper. Interestingly, Islamic art collected at the excellent Zombietime website illustrates that depictions of Mohammed, though officially condemned, have a long history up to and including today.
Photos of the protesters' signs must be disquieting to any friends of multiculturalism remaining in Europe. The messages include thoughts like "Massacre those who insult Islam," "Freedom, go to hell" and "Europe, you will pay, your 9/11 is on its way." (See some pictures of the unhappy Muslims at Michelle Malkin’s blog.)
If this mess weren’t bad enough, the State Department has come out against free speech and on the side of the jihadists. Say, isn’t free speech an important part of that democracy stuff that the government is promoting?
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.