Removing a Piece of Heartless Stone - Idolatry is Not Limited to Statues

Submitted by M. Tovey (United States), Feb 28, 2008 at 11:47

While such things are apparently issues for the more devout adherents of Islam, the removal of imagery of the Islamic founder only highlights the efforts of that ideology to insert their sensibilities while at the same time practice intolerance to the sensibilities of other belief systems and faiths. We have heard they do so in the vein of the belief that theirs is a better system. That remains to be seen.

However, here is irony. We see in the Western Christian culture of America similar adornments on significant edifices such as the mentioned courthouses or other structures, and without any historical refernces to draw from, there are representations of other historical figures such as Moses and the like, and little is made of that comparatively speaking. But what we do see is the provocative requirement to remove any emblems of western Christian thinking such as the Ten Commandments, and in even further extreme cases, the removal of the Christian cross as symbols of the culture that America has come to represent to the world.

From this personal perspective, there is no objection for the removal of the imagery of the Quranic figure, for it is a characature anyway, there being no real way to capture a true likeness. Further, we need no reminder of the Islamic prophet's likeness since none are likely to ever see it again, not even in the form of the al-Mahdi.

What we do need to be reminded of is the circumstances under which such things are happening, that Western culture is falling away from the tenets of the Christian faith, giving fertile soil to the roots of belief systems seeking to undermine Western societies. Preserving statuary is not going to make any difference at all when one remembers that one of the more well known societies of the antiquities had a prolific taste for statuaries did not survive, leaving behind remnants of sculptures to remind us that it is the preservation of the heart of the people and not the art of the people that will allow a society to endure.

At the center of this is a central thought, it is not curious that though their is not to be idolatry associated with the Quranic founder, there seems to be a lot of personality worship when it comes to nominal Islamic individuals like the leaders of the PA, Hisbollah, Hamas, just to name a few. Really, how big does a portrait of the president of Syria, former president of Iraq, or Iran need to be?

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".