What's all the fuss

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Tuesday February 14, 2006 23:43 by james travers jimtravers at eircom dot net dublin

Allah be praised or face the consequences

An essay that questions the problem associated with the publishing of a series of cartoons in a French newspaper that depicts Mohammad carrying a bomb on his head, Is there more to the backlask and is our country setting itself up for racial tension in the future. The question is asked for comment and opinion

Allah be praised or face the consequences

Its a funny old world as well as a dangerous old one we live in, politics and religion still determines if you should live, die or be cast out as a reject and an undesirable. In these early years of the 21st century our world appears to be either shifting further to the right of our so called civilised societies or to the extreme left and towards anarachy. The middle is made up of a concoction of a bit of everything that is shifting and moving like the earths tectonic plates, causing great friction that combines with a build-up of uncontrollable heat. I refer to the current debacle about the not so funny cartoons published in a French newspaper and to which caused a whole religious culture to rise and threaten the rest of the world with reprisals for the blaspheming of a chosen one, or so legend says. In our modern, technologically advanced world we still have the ability to cause untold hurt and physical damage to fellow human beings all in the name of a God or a Prophet of a God. Have I missed something here, am I just not bright enough in believing that the word of God is “Peace unto all men” and that we as human beings are the children of God and therefore we should love one another as we love God. But what is that I hear you say? Oh it’s your God who is the almighty one and all others are imitations, replicas and not worthy of the smallest consideration of religious thought. So do I get this right by saying that if I do not believe in your God and you do not believe in my God then we are therefore in conflict in the name of God and in God’s name we should rise to murder and maim one another so that our God will look down upon us and proclaim “WELL DONE MY LOYAL AND DEVOTED PEOPLE YOU SHALL INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD” what a load of misconstrued nonsense that is as far away from reality as Homer Simpson is from being normal.

It’s so Jay Leno to see people parade into their Mosques to kneel, give devotion to their Saviour and then sixty minutes later walk out and carry banners proclaiming that fellow human beings should be murdered, tortured or beheaded to avenge an insult depicted in cartoon.
When we see the pain and injury caused by man against man or reminisce on our past history, (Second World War) do you honestly think that any God would be insulted by a mere mortal depicting him as anything else other than a God?

We live in a wonderful world that is unique, special and occupies a very small part of a universe that is currently telling us we may be alone and could be lost in the vast darkness of space. Our planet with its flora, fauna and its wide diversity of animal species is infected with a deadly virus that is threatening the very existence of this paradise. That virus is known as man.
We see ourselves as guardians and keepers of our planet but at the same time find conflict and bitterness against one another that may eventually destroy the beauty we so proudly proclaim to cherish and respect.

With all our technology and modern thinking’s we are still a crude and wild species of animal that exists on fairy tales and myths. We pride ourselves with our sense of reasoning and awareness but we use these senses to successfully bring about our own extinction. We invent figureheads and superior beings that come complete with sets of rules and regulations for all to abide by or question at their own peril. Our religious leaders use and base all their teachings and rules on someone who cannot be questioned and whose teachings or words have been altered and interpreted to suit the rule of power and control. When we see how Middle East countries treat women as unequal’s, carry out medieval forms of justice and indoctrinate people with religious beliefs that encourage and promote hate, we must ask ourselves why we court people who promote these activities against their own people. It’s is also not so funny when we see our President (a woman) sits in the company of men who condemn their fellow citizens(women) to sit in the background, away from the rest of the worlds media and our unquestionable beliefs of equality, freedom and justice.

I would rather have a laugh or a frown on my face by looking at a cartoon image of Mohammad with a bomb on his head rather than a plane packed full of innocent people with a NUTTER hell bent on bringing as many innocent people he or she can drag to an early grave in the name of a God or a so-called cause.

Yes these cartoons were possibly in bad taste, and yes they may have offended a certain part of a society, but that does not warrant the open, bitter and murderous display of violent imagery and words on posters carried by those who live, work or take benefit from a country they live in.
When we see thugs like Abu Hamza preach violence and revolt in a country he has a cheek to draw social welfare benefit while at the same time fight a battle against extradition to the United States because the Americans won’t be as tolerant of his freedoms and rights to those he enjoys in the United Kingdom. And do not think for one instance that the Muslim Council of Ireland does not have within its walls, people who if given the same reasons to revolt in Ireland would not bring upon the people of Ireland the same form of backlash. Like the Jewish community the Muslim community in Ireland are enjoying a secluded and out of the limelight presence within Ireland that allows that community to grow in strength economically. It is not so long ago when we were told that an Irish citizen was refused entry to a shop in the Cabinteely area because that persons(girl-teenager) dress was not acceptable to the shop owner or his beliefs. And that’s in Ireland.

So let us not get on the bandwagon as we always do in Ireland by saying things will not happen in our tolerant anti-racial society. It’s only a matter of time. There are good and bad people in all societies as there are good and bad Irish people. What we have is the intolerance of one community against all other communities because they do not like what they hear or see. They live in a society of freedom and justice but proclaim their opposition to freedom and justice when the situation changes and is not of their liking. The freedom of the press is our physical
sign of a democratic and open society. If the day should come when journalists cannot speak their minds because it might offend a certain part of our society, it will be the time when our struggle for freedom, civil rights and independence is washed away by a minority who are not compatible and find no compatibility with the society they live in.

The backlash that came about from the printing of the cartoons in a French newspaper is only a reminder to us that there are forces within the Muslim community (religious leaders) who are afraid of their community being engulfed in western ideologies that will diminish their power base and therefore the influence they hold over their people.

When a person approaches you and cannot speak to you, (you’re a man) is shrouded in a canopy of cloth from head to toe with a peephole for two eyes to see out, this make a total laugh of integration, identity or even the ability of the Gardai to have direct verbal contact in the spirit of community contact. When a woman cannot speak in a country that prides itself as a gossiping and friendly society then there is something radically wrong with the manner in which we allow people into our country. Do not forget the saying “when in Rome do as the Romans do” unfortunately there are those who want to be in Rome and take all that Rome can give them but do not want to have anything to do with the Romans. It does not make sense.

In the past we had the division of North and South and all the heartache and pain that went with it. Today we have the potential for an ethnically divided country where the lessons learned about the conflict in Northern Ireland is discarded and is now acted out on the streets of our capital city. In the future we may not be asked to die for Ireland but to die for an image that is elevated above our own logic and sanity.

This essay was compiled to encourage comment and opinion. It was not designed to cause racial hatred or conflict. If we believe in freedom of expression then we listen and respect others opinions irrespective of content of that expression. We are free to reply and cherish that ability to be able to reply. This web site is the evidential proof that freedom of expression is alive and thriving in Ireland. We must not collapse to a belief that there are certain things we must not speak or write about for fear of the repercussions that may come with our ability to speak our minds.

Mohammad is said to be a prophet, good. Jesus is said to be our saviour, good. Let us place these MORTALS in their correct place in history and lets us live for today and for the living. There is one thing my father always said “ There is no need to be afraid of the dead for the dead will never harm you” can we say the same for the living who harm us in the name of God, Mohammad or Allah.

It is important we learn to live in peace and harmony with respect for one another beliefs and opinions. We invite people of all race and colour to be part of our modern progressive Ireland. It is an insult to our people when there are people who come into our country to settle and live, but fly a different flag,hold allegiences to a religious belief or culture above the people to which they are invited to share this land. Iwonder, if I went into a court or public building dressed in a manner that poses a security question with regards to my real identity would the authorities be content to sit and wait until someone came to speak on my behalf because I am hooded up like a highwayman and not allowed to utter a word. Jusus save us all, is this a modern Irish joke or is it a sign of the times?
What is the real agenda behind all this controversy that condemns decent, honest and law abiding Muslim people to be tarred with the same brush of those who cannot abide by the belief of live and let live.