The question is…what is the real significance of these protests? It is one thing to read articles about a hundred Muslims outside Westminster Cathedral, some riots in Basra, a hundred guys outside the Vatican embassy in Jakarta…here and there, outrage, protests, burning.
There are a lot more Muslims than that. To be fair, they are not out protesting, and most probably have no opinion on the matter. So..are these protests just a blip?
Hard to say – and in terms of explicit, directed anger – probably yes. But in terms of the broader picture and its growing signficance – perhaps not, because to look at this fully, we have to look at what Muslim leaders are saying, what the press in Islamic-dominated countries is saying, what the popular culture in these societies says about Christianity, and try to seek out any explicit counter-opinions and gestures. Where are the leaders of the offended leading? What is popular culture communicating?
Just one example from today: here’s an animated cartoon currently running on Al-Jazeera’s website. Al-Jazeera having a bit of presence in the Muslim world.
(I don’t know how to grab an image from Flash, so you’ll have to go with my description. It’s short.)
Pope John Paul II releases doves of peace.
Benedict comes and shoots them down. They fall at his feet in a bloody mess. The cartoon ends with Benedict standing, triumphant with his gun, John Paul II sitting, his head sadly in his hands.
By the way, there seem to be several pages of comments on the cartoon – all in Arabic. It would be interesting to see them translated.
Or take Turkey. In Turkey, as noted here a couple of weeks ago – and mentioned by John Allen in the beginning of September, a best-selling novel of late in Turkey has been, Attack on the Pope: Who Will Kill Benedict XVI in Istanbul?
The cover:
I have not seen one mention of this book or its popularity in Turkey in the press. In all the fussing about the trouble the Pope has caused, his indelicate aggressive stance, his questions about Turkey’s presence in the EU…not one media outlet has mentioned this book.
It is a bestseller.
One does not need to stop there. One could examine – as has been done tirelessly everywhere else but the mainstream Western media, how anti-Jewish, anti-Christian and anti-American bigotry is part of the warp and woof of popular culture in many Islamic-dominated cultures.
But no one does. And now, for citing a medieval emperor in an academic speech…the Pope is fomenting discord?
Perhaps we need to redefine "foment" and "discord"
Or perhaps, alas, we already have.
Read Previous Post