[On 02/26/06 I changed the title of this entry.  I did so not because I feared personal retribution from radical Muslims but because I feared for Christians in less safe parts of the world, like Nigeria. –  Funky]

"Cast of ‘Will and Grace’, in fear for their lives, go into hiding after lampooning Christians.

"Oh. Sorry. I meant ‘Danish cartoonists, in fear for their lives, go into hiding after lampooning Muslims’"

Ah, Mark Shea has such a way with words.

I’m getting real sick of all the news surrounding Mohammed-gate. I really have nothing substantial to add to millions of opinions on the net, so I’ll keep this short. These "foaming Bronze Age fanatics" (Mark’s phrase) who are throwing a temper tantrum over some bloody cartoons, combined with the great number of Islamic terrorists, are really changing my view of Islam. I’ve been trying very hard to accept Islam as a religion of peace and give people the benefit of the doubt when they say that the nutjobs are the exception and are perverting the religion. However, the more often I see stuff like this, the harder that is for me to believe. I’m starting to susepct that Islam has always been a fanatically violent religion and that the peaceful sects we see today are splinter groups. IOW, they’re the fluke, not the psychos. I hope someone can prove I’m wrong.

Addendum: The Catholic League‘s response to all the hubbub is worth quoting in its entirety.

"The decision of most mainstream media outlets not to reprint or show the controversial cartoons is the right one: the Catholic League sides with the U.S., Britain and the Vatican in denouncing the inflammatory cartoons. Regrettably, the decision by the media not to offend Muslims is motivated by fear, not ethics. Worse than this by far is the violent reaction, and calls for violence, that have sprung up all over the Muslim world. This is pure barbarism."

"Whenever the Catholic League criticizes a work of art, cartoon, movie or TV show, we are told that (a) we’re the intolerant ones (b) what is offensive is in the eye of the beholder (c) art is supposed to make people uncomfortable (d) no one can criticize anything until they have seen it (e) protests have a ‘chilling effect’ on free speech (f) it’s not real anyway, and (g) get over it. So why have Muslims been spared this lecture? Because the extremists in their ranks—and they are not a tiny minority—have shown they may respond with beheadings."

"Why, according to the Washington Post, did European newspapers reprint the cartoons? It was ‘not their love of freedom but their insensitivity—or hostility—to the growing diversity of their own societies.’ The Los Angeles Times says it won’t reprint ‘these insensitive images.’ The Miami Herald boasts that it ‘must take great care not to offend.’ The New York Times says it is wrong to publish ‘gratuitous assaults on religious symbols.’ The San Francisco Chronicle says ‘insulting or hurting certain groups’ is wrong. Both CBS and NBC say it isn’t necessary to show the cartoons in order to report on them. CNN even went so far as to say that it ‘has chosen not to show the cartoons out of respect for Islam.’ Now if Catholicism were treated with such sensitivity and respect, we would have to shut down the Catholic League."

"Ethics, not fear, should guide the media. As for Muslims offended by the cartoons, they should learn what a civilized response entails."

Addnedum 02/11/06: Greg, at the Discerning Dilemma offers some interesting thoughts.

"First off, Islam does not mean ‘peace.’ It means ‘submission’, and the peace that comes from that submission. Islam itself, not necessarily its adherence, plain and simply is not a religion of peace. Mohammed was a warmongering lunatic. In the centuries after Jesus Christ died, Christians hid in the catacombs for fear of their lives, yet being willing to give up their lives (if things happened that way) as witnesses to Jesus Christ (in fact ‘martyr’ actually means ‘witness’). In the centuries after Mohammed died, his followers A) had to keep the masses from reverting to their old ways under threat of death, and B) went on a campaign of blood across North Africa and into Spain."

"Now how about today’s Moslems? The majority of them are not like that, and love peace and freedom. The majority of Moslems are peaceful folks. In other words, they are polar opposites of Mohammed. They are dissidents and good for them, too. When a Catholic dissents, they contribute to a decaying society and a culture of death. When a Moslem dissents, they lead a life of serenity and maybe even freedom."