The Islamic Fascination With Controlling How and What the West Thinks

Submitted by Marci (United States), Jun 26, 2007 at 13:46

A small Danish newspaper prints a cartoon about Mohammed; a rumor emerges of an American soldier disgracing a Koran; an American tele-evangelist makes a disparaging remark about Islam; the Brits consider knighting Salman Rushdie. What do all of these rather benign events have in common?

They spark outrage and condemnation in the Islamic world, demonstrations erupt and often turn deadly. However, the opposite is not true. In the Islamic world, Jews are portrayed in cartoons as pigs and rats; Bibles are confiscated and owners arrested; Imams call for the destruction of Judaism and Christianity; Islamic leaders who call for the destruction of the satanic Western world are elected president. And yet, in the west, we see no demonstrations.

Why? Is it that the Islamic world is filled with crazy fanatics, and the Western world is filled with passive would-be victims? This is an explanation often offered to explain this phenomenon. Or is something more emotional going on? Could it be that Islam cares deeply what the West thinks about it and that the West could care less what the Islamic world thinks about it?

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