Cartoon hypocrisy

Violent protests are raging across the globe and at least a dozen people have been killed because of ... cartoons! The 12 caricatures of Mohammed, specifically. The Danish newspaper "Jyllands-Posten" printed them in September and only recently Danish Muslims brought them to the Islamic world, where the mayhem ensued. Why? In Islam, it is blasphemous to even depict Mohammed, let alone as a caricature.\nThis entire situation can only be described as a travesty of hypocrisy on everyone's part.\nFirst, the Muslims. I can understand their outrage at their religion being attacked. After all, I am Catholic -- my religion is attacked in print on a daily basis.\nWhat really is galling, though, is that the rioters act as if Islam is a helpless victim.\nHere's a tally of Islam's misdeeds: in 2002, Muslims broke into the Church of the Nativity and used pages of Christian holy books as toilet paper; between 1948 and 1967, Muslims destroyed all 57 ancient Jewish temples in Jerusalem and used the masonry for urinals; in 2001, the Taliban destroyed colossal ancient sculptures of Buddha because they were "blasphemous." And every year dozens of Copts (Egyptian Christians) are killed by Muslims for their religious beliefs.\nIt seems Islam can deal out plenty of religious venom, but a series of childish cartoons is enough to make the entire Islamic world cry out indignantly.\nThe Europeans' hypocrisy is even worse. At least the Muslims are motivated by faith; the Europeans don't even have a stance on the issue (surprise!).\n"We might not like them, but we will defend the right of anyone to publish them," said Roger Koeppel, editor of Die Welt, a German newspaper that is reprinting the cartoons. \nReally? A German editor should know more than anyone that not everything can be published. Ask Koeppel if his paper will run a column denying the Holocaust's existence or an article about Hitler. Any mention of Nazism is staunchly stifled in Germany, yet insulting a religion is "free speech." It would appear some speech is freer than others, specifically speech that falls in line with the accepted political trends.\nThe other equally hypocritical European reaction is condemnation of the cartoons.\n"There's a real sense of outrage. I think what's more healthy about the situation ... is that that sense of outrage stretches across all communities," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair.\nI would have liked to have seen similar widespread outrage at the "artworks" depicting a crucifix submerged in urine or the Blessed Virgin sculpted from dung. Where was the cross-community outrage and official denunciations? Why were people demanding the removal of that "art" seen as religious fanatics pushing for theocracy?\nThe West sadly does not know what stance to take because that's a side effect of believing in nothing. It has thrown away its identity and has no foundation for its civilization, or what's left of it at least. The Muslims, on the other hand, know exactly what drives them and do an excellent job of masking their one-sidedness.\nThis scary moral vacuum with people willing to fill it ought to concern the Europeans as much as it does me.