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Opinion
Riots over cartoons seem to defy logic
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Maybe, just maybe, the world has officially gone mad. When the overriding top news story of the week is the rioting and deaths over a cartoonist's drawing of Prophet Muhammad, then you honestly have to examine the future of humanity.
In Pakistan and Libya and other points throughout the Mideast, Muslims are using the cartoon as an excuse to destroy all things Western. And since the cartoon itself actually was published back in September, you have to wonder just how orchestrated these riots truly are.
I confess to a miserable understanding of geopolitical dynamics. I know the Muslim world is bent on destroying many of those things we hold sacred. But I do know that we've reached a point where common sense and logic have long disappeared. And I fear it's too easy to see the future, given the current climate.
A Pakistani cleric - a religious leader held in great respect - on Friday offered a $1 million bounty for anyone who kills the cartoonist who penned the drawing in question. Now sit back for a minute and think about that. When a religious leader promotes murder, how are we or any other civilized nation supposed to deal with that mind-set? The answer is obvious. We're far beyond the point of reason.
Dozens of people have already been killed in riots through the region. And unfortunately, there is really no end in sight. When those riots spread throughout Europe, at some point the United States will be asked to help in this new warfare. Then all hell will break loose.
Nations deal with other nations over points of conflict. But when reason and logic are abandoned, there is no reasoning. There is no discussion. We've reached that point.
It makes you want to adopt a protectionist policy of isolation. Let the remainder of the world wallow in some long-awaited religious war and we'll simply sit on the sidelines and mourn the stupidity. But of course that won't happen.
Our freedoms are so much a part of our culture that we don't understand the attitude of the Muslim world. Political dissent is part of our civilization. We accept that dissent.
Others however are simply wired differently. And that difference threatens our way of life more than we can currently imagine.