Cartoon That Showed the Prophet Muhammad with a Bomb on His Turban - Essay Example

It would be so easy to make an apology to the offended party and thereby end the outbursts, the burning of Danish embassies in Muslim-dominated countries and the threats to the national security of Denmark. However, the press in Denmark and in Europe, in general, are not budging. And the reason for that is freedom of expression!

The cartoon may be offensive to the Islam faith, but the Muslims, while demanding respect for their faith, also need to understand press freedom, and more importantly, understand the meaning of the word “editorial.” The cartoon was printed as an editorial, and therefore, is solely the opinion of the artist, not necessarily the opinion of the entire publication or even the entire country of Denmark. The Danish government does not want to apologize on the part of the publication for respecting freedom of expression in the country, despite the numerous protests and the boycott of Danish products that is affecting the businesses of some Danish companies.

Muslims from the Middle East argue that the government is responsible because it could have stopped the publication of such offensive editorial or it could even punish the publication for doing so. In their mindset, this is most logical because, in their countries, everything is controlled by the government – not excluding the press. Again, press freedom is something that Muslims need to understand. They need to understand that the press only becomes effective if it acts separately from governments, corporations, political parties, and religions. It is a separate entity that needs to be critical, non-partisan and unbiased. It is with this kind of press freedom that society can improve itself.

It should also be pointed out that the Muslim nations are not entirely innocent in terms of religious insensitivity. Many times have they published items that are considered offensive to Christians and Jews. It has also been a recurring scenario that every time that the Islam faith is offended, Muslims would go out on the streets in angry protests, with extremists threatening to bomb the offender. They say that Denmark’s 9-11 is coming. The issue at hand is an editorial. Is it not possible to sit down and argue and discuss without violence? The street protests and the product boycotts are their prerogatives and they have the right to express themselves in such a manner, but to threaten to bomb a nation and to set fire on embassies is definitely excessive.

At this time of misunderstanding, compromise from both parties is necessary to establish peace and reason. For sure, not all Muslims are reacting in the same manner as the angry protestors and their intervention is needed to calm down the situation. On the other hand, cultures that are used to the freedom of expression need to compromise as well. However, these compromises need to be made in a civil and peaceful manner, and not through outrage and terrorist acts. Street protests and boycotts are an acceptable form of protests, but if the Muslims protest in a violent manner, then maybe the depiction of Muslims in the editorial cartoon is true after all.