Christian reaction to Jesus cartoons

Submitted by Dr RJP (United States), Feb 9, 2006 at 13:31

What if a cartoon of Jesus had been published by the Danish paper instead?

Could you imagine Christians:

1. Calling for the cartoonists to be beheaded?

2. Firebombing a mosque?

3. Rioting in the streets?

4. Retaliating by publishing vile cartoons about Muslims?

The reactions to the Mohammed cartoons, from both East and West, highlight a much bigger issue here: namely, the great divide between those who know the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, suicide bomber and targeted killings, blasphemy and satire, and these who say they are one and the same.

There is a huge, moral equivalency segment in both the Eastern and Western Worlds who claim that Christians and Muslims are similar in their beliefs, and that Jesus and Mohammed both preached the same thing.

Never mind that you would be hard-pressed to find any present-day Christians attempting to convert others through intimidation, torture, and death. Also, you would never hear any present-day Christians urging their followers to "Kill all nonbelievers wherever they hide." Conversely, I seriously doubt you would ever hear "Love thy neighbor as thyself" or "Love your enemy" emanating from the mouths of those who forcibly convert Christians to their way of life.

If both religions are equivalent, then why is it OK for a Christian to convert to Islam, but a crime punishable by death for a Muslim to convert to Christianity?

There has to be a deep-seated reason why Christians are not the ones responsible for 90% of the terrorism committed in our "civilized world." Yet, don't hold your breath waiting for the moral equivalency crowd to give you a thought-provoking comment on that one.

The reaction to the Mohammed cartoons should surprise no one who really knows the differences bwtween our culture and theirs.

---

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".