I would tend to agree.Roberts called on Muslims to be consistent, pointing out that Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians are regularly caricatured negatively in the Middle East press.
"I think what we have here is a true clash between the core values of these two civilizations, the West, and at least a significant stream within Islam."
Clash of cultures
Protecting free speech vs. respecting religion
BILL SHERMAN
World Religion Writer
02/11/2006
Tulsa World (Final Home Edition), Page A10 of Religion
Tulsa Muslims were deeply offended by the publication of caricatures of their prophet Muhammad in European newspapers, but they do not condone the violent protests that have spread across the Muslim world.
Non-Muslims here were more concerned about the growing violence and the threat to freedom of expression.
A Denmark newspaper published a dozen cartoons in September that offended Muslims. One of them depicted the prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam, wearing a bomb in his turban.
The issue remained localized until recently, when other European newspapers began to publish the cartoons, and Muslim leaders took up the cause.
Protests erupted in the Middle East and spread to other Muslim nations. Embassies were burned. Flags were trampled. Several people have been killed.
"I don't know of any American Muslim who is not totally appalled at this insult of the noble personality of the prophet Muhammad," said Mujeeb Cheema, Tulsa resident and executive director and chairman of the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) in Chicago.
"All of us absolutely do not accept this kind of blasphemy of the most leading figure for Islam, and Muslims," he said.
But at the same time, he said, he and other Muslims, and the entire leadership of American Muslims, do not approve of the violent protests.
Omer Akdeniz, a Tulsa Muslim from Turkey, said the cartoons were offensive to Muslims for two reasons.
First, they violated the Muslim prohibition against any depiction of Muhammad or other figures Islam calls prophets, including Jesus and Moses.
This is a strong prohibition agreed upon by all Islamic sects, he said. Anyone who violates it cannot be a Muslim.
Second, he said, the cartoons depicted Muhammad as a terrorist.
"We believe in freedom of speech, but this looks like they wanted to deliberately provoke the Muslim world," he said.
He said Muslims believed a weak response would encourage other anti-Muslim acts.
But he did not defend the violence.
"The cartoons were wrong, but burning an embassy is more wrong," he said. "In our faith and religion, we have to act responsibly. We should protest, but peacefully."
Ayha Eryigit, a television producer originally from Istanbul now living in New Jersey, was in Tulsa this week filming American reaction to the cartoon controversy for Turkish national television.
Speaking through an interpreter, Eryigit said the Western media has failed to adequately report that an organization of 50-plus Muslim nations issued a statement condemning the violent protests.
Eryigit said Turkish newspapers are calling publication of the cartoons an intentional, global provocation.
The fear is that radical elements are using the issue to drive a wedge between the West and Islam, he said.
"Every religion has these radical groups that are trying to promote a clash of civilizations," he said.
Factions in both Europe and Turkey that don't want Turkey accepted into the European Union also are using the controversy to strengthen their position, he said.
Nuredin Giayash, principal of Peace Academy Muslim school in Tulsa, said Muslims were "very much offended" because Muhammad has a special status in Islam.
"He's the embodiment of the Holy Quran. Muslims' love for him exceeds their love for their parents and children."
That respect extends to other prophets recognized by Islam, including Jesus, Moses and John the Baptist, said Giayash, who protested with a group of Muslims in Norman when "The Last Temptation of Christ" was shown, a film Christians say degraded and misrepresented Jesus.
That respect does not extend to political leaders, he said, which is why cartoons in the Muslim world often negatively portray George Bush and Israeli leaders.
While offended Muslims are talking about attacks on their faith, some Westerners are talking about attacks on freedom of expression.
"This is a big free speech issue," said John Swails, chairman of the department of history, humanities and government at Oral Roberts University.
He said he thinks the protests were orchestrated by Islamic leaders to intimidate Americans and U.S. policy makers.
"And it's having an effect. The question is, will we cave in completely, or will we find the moral courage to stand?"
Swails predicted fatwahs, Islamic religious edicts, would follow to further intimidate Westerners.
Mark Roberts, director of the Holy Spirit Research Center at ORU, said that freedom of speech is a "cornerstone of our Western civilization, and we dare not compromise on this issue."
He said the U.S. should robustly support the Danish right to publish the cartoons. The U.S. State Department has criticized their publication, while defending freedom of the press.
Roberts called on Muslims to be consistent, pointing out that Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians are regularly caricatured negatively in the Middle East press.
"I think what we have here is a true clash between the core values of these two civilizations, the West, and at least a significant stream within Islam."
He said the difference can be found in the origins of Christianity and Islam.
"Jesus and Christianity arose with no taste for forcing conversions by the sword.
"By contrast, Muhammad does begin to compel conversion by force, and it was through that means that Islam spread very quickly."
He said Western civilization, deeply influenced by Judaism and Christianity, has a clear conviction that all faiths must be protected.
"The whole notion of the inviolability of the individual's conscience arises from the Jewish and Christian conviction that we're made in the image of God," he said.
Cheema countered that one must make a distinction between the right of free speech, and speech that is intended to create disruption and discord among people of the world, in this case between Muslims and non-Muslims.
"We routinely accept that freedom of speech does not allow a person to yell 'Fire!' in a movie theater, because it would predictably lead to loss of property or life in a stampede," he said.
He said the cartoons were published knowing that Muslims would be extremely hurt, and that a minority of them would destroy property and hurt others, in violation of Muslim principles.
"People don't have the right to do something that will predictably lead to discord among people.
"This is not honest and innocent exercise of free speech; it is promotion of Islamaphobia," he said.
The Rev. Reza Saffa, a former Muslim who now pastors Harvesters World Outreach Church in Tulsa, said the cartoon controversy indicates that the Islamic world is gaining power and influence.
There is no freedom of religion in nations dominated by Islam, he said.
"What's happening is they're creating an atmosphere of fear.
"This is more than just an incident. It's a great concern," he said.
The Rev. Russell Bennett, president and founder of Tulsa Interfaith Alliance, said the free press argument for publishing the cartoons was weak.
"The other side of freedom is responsibility," he said.
"It's always the extremists who incite the extremists on the other side.
"This is an important time for moderate and liberal folks to work together to defuse this thing before both sides harden."
