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Cartoons uncover cultural divide

Most Muslims in the U.S. are taking an intellectual approach to the global outrage brought by newspaper cartoons.

By SHERRI DAY
Published February 8, 2006

	[AP photo]
	Indonesian students burn signs and shout anti-Denmark slogans during a demonstration in front of the building which houses the Danish Embassy on Wednesday in Jakarta. Go to cartoons Latest from AP: Violence continues in cartoon aftermath Interactive: Understanding Islam

In a classroom at Florida State University, Vincent Biondo urged his students this week to look beyond the cultural lens of the West.

Just try, he urged them, to understand Muslims' anger over cartoons that depicted the prophet Mohammed.

"My students (said), it seems like Muslims are intolerant and Christians are tolerant. I'm not sure that's exactly accurate," said Biondo, a historian of religions who specializes in Islam. "If Jesus or the pope were portrayed as a murderer or pedophile, I think that some people would object to that."

From classrooms to centers of government, global furor over the cartoons has focused attention on the Muslim culture and led inevitably to questions about religious tolerance and freedom of speech. It also has generated concern about the source of the violence and whether it is rooted in faith or in politics.

For many Muslims around the world, the cartoons are akin to mocking the Holocaust or making light of the slave trade. But many scholars, and even Muslims, say the response is not beyond politics.

"Most Muslims live in oppressive governments where they do not have the freedom to do and say what they want to say," said Husam Amim, a Tampa Muslim. "When something like this happens, these governments let them do whatever they want to do because it's directed at someone else."

The cartoons, which ran in a Danish newspaper in September and were republished recently in several European publications, continued to spark violent reactions Tuesday in Muslim communities from the Philippines to Nigeria.

Reaction among American Muslims, including more than 45,000 in the Tampa Bay area, has been understated.

Many locals express dismay about the cartoons, but say their fellow Muslims are blowing the religious slight out of proportion. They fear European Muslims' violent behavior will reflect poorly upon Western believers.

"This only plays right into the stereotypes when people see these images," said Ahmed Bedier, Central Florida director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "We see (the protests) as counterproductive and un-Islamic. This is not how the prophet Mohammed would have responded to such attacks."

Islam strictly forbids the representation of any form of Allah or the prophet Mohammed. Early Muslim leaders banned such art in to tamp down idolatry.

"The main goal was to prevent the worship of Mohammed as a deity instead of God," said Biondo. "The idea is when you visit a mosque, you don't see pictures or paintings of people because that would distract you from prayer."

Islam is not the only religion with such prohibitions.

Judaism and Christianity, through the Ten Commandments, also teach against the creation of "graven images" and false gods. But through the years, Jews and Christians have become more relaxed and distinguish between idols and art, scholars said.

"It depends on the degree of severity with which they adhere to the commandment," said James Strange, a distinguished professor who specializes in ancient Christianity and ancient Judaism at the University of South Florida in Tampa. "In Jewish communities, people always ask, "Do you keep Sabbath?' (If) the answer is yes, it's "Well, how much do you keep Sabbath?' Since most Jews in America are just like most Christians and are heavily acculturated, they put up with art."

Religious scholars say theological objections only explain part of what Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen termed Tuesday a "global crisis."

In many European countries, Muslims have seized upon the controversy to strike a blow at the culture of colonialism, scholars said. In more strict Muslim countries, leaders have loosened the reins and encouraged protest.

Those kinds of battle are not shared by many American Muslims.

"The American Muslim community is wealthy, educated and was recruited here to become doctors and scientists," Biondo said. "In Europe you have immigrants who left war-torn countries and they still have legal second-class status in European countries."

As violence continues around the globe, CAIR offices have fielded numerous calls and e-mails from concerned American Muslims who want the civil rights group to take action. On Monday, the group's leaders met with the Danish ambassador in Washington, D.C.

In Florida, Bedier asked prayer leaders to use their sermons last Friday to instruct Muslims to respond to the cartoons with intelligence and thoughtfulness. The group also plans an educational campaign about the prophet Mohammed.

At the Universal Academy of Florida, a private Muslim school in eastern Hillsborough County, Arabic teachers discussed the cartoons with their students.

"We're writing a letter to the editor about how we feel it's disrespectful," said Noor Shakfeh, 14. "We discussed how it wasn't right for them to do it because we don't make fun of other people's cultures or religions."

Though offended, Husam Amin, 46, prefers to move on.

"Every human being in this life should know what battles to pick," he said. "Every time somebody speaks negatively against you, you can't just go and fight them. Sometimes just ignore them, and they'll go away."

Mohammad Sultan, imam at the Islamic Society of Tampa Bay, said there has been little outrage among worshipers at the mosque.

"It's nothing new," he said. "Attacks on Islam have been going on all over the world since Sept. 11. I'm not surprised, but we have to deal with them intellectually."

Information from Times wires was used in this report. Sherri Day can be reached at sday@sptimes.com or 813 226-3405.

[Last modified February 8, 2006, 01:16:09]