Religion Wearing Its Ugly Head...Again.

It has occured again: the unbridled ignorance that comes along with orthodox religion, particularly, monotheistic religions. Everyone has heard by now about the ridiculous outbursts and outcries of racism and religious discrimination over a controversial cartoon that was initially published in a Danish newspaper. These protests have been sweeping across the Muslim world during the last two weeks, as far away as Indonesia. Fleming Rose, the Dutch editor responsible for publishing the cartoon, has since taken an indefinite vacation from the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, after some pressure from his colleagues, and, of course, the Danish-Muslim community.

Now, I do understand that journalists and those in any sort of media should always practice the highest level of professionalism and ethics, and thus should be held to those same standards. But, we in the West, have always believed in freedom of expression. Yes, some might be offended by this "expression," but when is the line drawn? When is freedom too free? When is being offended too much? These are tough questions.

With that said, however, the response by many in the Muslim community was completely unnecessary, and religion is not looking very good right now. Many argue that it's not religion that is the problem, it's when it is used for political ends. I beg to disagree. The minute we start to believe that there is an invisible being whispering commands and such in our ear and the minute we think that some mythic god-child can save earth's inhabitants from personal and collective destruction, we are asking for trouble. Why? Because the discussion stops, and no more can be said. How can one reason with another who believes that Allah governs his very life? Why should we even trust people who claim that they hear voices from some invisible being, particularly, when this voice is "giving" them commands and direction on policy issues that could potentially affect the lives of millions? Okay, okay. I'm referring to President Bush.

It is time that we, who use logic and reason to govern our lives, start asking these tough questions. Of course, there will be no worthwhile answers from those who embrace such nonsense, but by virtue of asking these questions, we'll send the message that enough's enough.