Muslims rise against mocking Muhammad. But sit when it comes to real atrocities.

Muslims rise to protest infidel Christians blaspheming Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. This is no surprise.

Among Muslims, even educated and literate ones and even those with inapproriate senses of humor or amusement, portraying anything central to Islam - Islam, Allah, Muhammad, the Qur'an, sunnah, the sayings of Muhammad, the tenets of Islam, the beliefs of Islam, and even jihad - are strictly not doable. Disparaging any of these is considered to be blasphemy, whose punishment is death. One who engages in blasphemy is considered to be an apostate, a non-Muslim, an enemy of Islam, and one who is actively agitating against Islam. Any one of these categories justifies execution - so the blasphemer is four times worthy of execution. This blasphemy is taken very, very seriously by Muslims. These standards have all Muslims chained, even those who consider themselves free or enlightened.

Now, it should be no surprise that Muslims would strongly condemn ridiculing Islam while Muslims feel free to ridicule (and spread falsehoods about) Christianity, Judaism, and their people. The Qur'an is full of inaccuracies concerning Christianity and Judaism, which are, of course, taken to be undeniable fact. In a democratic society, if someone ridicules Islam, the Muslims will complain of being offended. If a Muslim ridicules another religion (or, as is more likely, insults or calls for the annihilation of another religion), and he/she is told off, he/she will complain that Muslims' rights are being violated. They would have their cake and eat it too.

There is no concept of multicultural sensitivity or interreligious respect and regard. As a matter of fact, I have read one short article by a highly-regard Muslim author who condemns any Muslim who even hints at Muslims being someway equal to or at the level of Christians or Jews. He insists that Muslims must be above them, and any Muslim who violates this has effectively become an apostate. (If what these experts say is correct, it is then exceedingly easy to become an apostate, it seems.) So, while Muslims may ridicule Christianity (and Christians) and Judaism (and Jews), and while they may issue forth fiery and violent sermons against Christians, Jews, Americans, Europeans, or anyone they do not like, no one may ridicule, speak against, insult, or oppose Islam. It is blasphemy, and must be punished. As Muslims are not free to kill offending infidels in the West, they must oppose it and agitate against whoever is guilty of such a crime.

This is not really a matter of a people being offended. Muslims offend Christians, Jews, Americans, and others on a daily basis. Their political cartoons are simply abominable - and as most Muslim states are state-run, this means that this offending material is actively permitted by our supposed allies. No other people react as Muslims have - on allegations of flushed copies of the Qur'an to cartoons that supposedly mock Muhammad. Not a word about female infanticide, massacres of Sudanese Christians, suicide bombings (unless it happens to blow up a Muslim-inhabited hotel in a Muslim country), massacres of Shiites or Kurds, thousands and thousands of others who have suffered under Muslim tyranny. And the worse we can do is mock Muhammad and take out deranged militants? We think one large portion of humanity needs to have its perspectives adjusted. Cartoons are not more important than human lives. Mocking Muhammad won't affect him; supression others' freedom of expression will affect many.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini said, "There is no room for play in Islam. It is deadly serious about everything." Islam needs to get a sense of humor and stop being so deadly. Regardless, the West must realize with whom they are dealing. They must not fall for "elitist moral relativism" (thanks to Madfish Willie in this Ace of Spades Headquarters thread) of those in the West who would be so treacherous as to bow to Islamic culture and stab Western culture in the back - which is what Islamists would have all Westerns do.

If the West gives in, it will only embolden and further enable Muslims. Muslims must come to realize that the world is not at their beck and command. They must live with everyone else, not above them. And they must learn that the rest of the world enjoys its ability to express itself without fear of death or prosecution, regardless of who is offended. The standards of Islam may be applied only to Muslims: never ought it to be used on or applied to non-Muslims. All the world should have the freedom to mock and praise whomsoever one may wish to do so.

inna naHnu-l-a'lamuun.