Without Reason

The flap over Danish cartoons has me wondering whether there is any capacity for reason and forbearance in the Islamic world.

Last week, Ann Coulter, in her trademark abrasive style, challenged Islam’s claim to be a “religion of peace,” citing how Muslims responded to Danish cartoons suggesting Muslims have a predilection for violence:

In order to express their displeasure with the idea that Muslims are violent, thousands of Muslims around the world engaged in rioting, arson, mob savagery, flag-burning, murder and mayhem, among other peaceful acts of nonviolence.

The mob violence is abhorrent and completely unjustified, and based on misinformation. Coulter made a historical point that somehow escaped every Muslim rioter and cleric who incited them:

The belief that Islam forbids portrayals of Muhammad is recently acquired. Back when Muslims created things, rather than blowing them up, they made paintings, frescoes, miniatures and prints of Muhammad.

I sure didn't hear this in any of the news reports. I checked it out myself with a Google image search for “Prophet Muhammad” (9,570 results), “Prophet Mohammed” (5,730 results), and “Prophet Muhammed” (11,600 results). Granted, only about 10% of the hits were actual images of Muhammed, but they are ample enough to refute the claim that images of the Prophet are forbidden. I saw ancient engravings and frescoes, and even some very contemporary-styled portraits of Muhammad. One fresco was ancient Persian (that is, Iranian). I can’t help wondering wonder how many images of Muhammed were in the once-stunning Al-Askariya Shrine (built by Muslims in 1907, destroyed by Muslims in 2006).

Another underreported fact I read in World Magazine:

To pour gasoline on the fire, someone—apparently a jihadist violating his own religion—added pornographic drawings of Muhammad as a pedophile, a pig, and a rapist, creating the false impression that these too were being published in Denmark.

So, what we have are deceitful imams and devious jihadists deliberately feeding lies to ignorant audiences to give them an excuse to riot. Talk about faulty intelligence. How many lives have been lost so far for this idiocy? Can we bill Sheikh Omar Bakri for the damages he caused?

Someone must inform the unthinking mobs, most of whom are not in countries where the cartoons were published, that they’ve been had. Is there a brave, articulate Muslim willing to step up to the plate?

More importantly, any Muslims who seriously consider Islam a religion of peace have to get a handle on the knee-jerk overreactions. Stop, take a breath, and think before you riot. Extreme Islam is on a downward spiral and inching closer to abandoning all reason and giving in to unbounded hatred.

I am no scholar of Islam or the Quran, but I gather that obedience is of highest importance under Islam and that questioning is generally forbidden. Christianity, on the other hand, encourages reasoning and intellectual exploration. (There are those who dispute this, but the evidence is overwhelming. Another Google search turns up: “Muslim apologetics,” 575 results; “Christian apologetics,” 595,000 results.) If the practitioners of extreme Islam do not promote reason, it is no wonder Muslims riot. They have no other recourse.

I am convinced that reason is itself a path to peace. It is reason that forces us to stop and think, to interpret carefully, and form a sensible response. When faced with offense, without reason, we have only anger and gut reactions.

I found this recent column by Chuck Colson encouraging. In Colson’s review of Rodney Stark's The Victory of Reason: Christianity and the West he notes that by "reason," Stark means "'logical thought' that doesn’t 'jump to conclusions.'"

Reason is what prevents people from acting in haste. It enables us to think through the potential consequences of actions, especially rash ones. Muslims rioting over three political cartoons certainly has done nothing for PR. It has done nothing to increase understanding of Islam, but has done the opposite. Any person or people who is quick to anger and prone to violence isolates themselves from anyone who might otherwise want to learn more about them.

Reason makes forgiveness possible. It allows you to consider the motives and intentions of the offender, and be patient with those who may not know your customs. In the case of the cartoon riots, someone has to suck it up and move on. In short, grow up. No one can get along with the world who cannot stand to be offended.

John Piper, a columnist for World, says enduring mockery is par for the Christian course, that Christ himself set the example of patient suffering. (See Being Mocked: It’s the essence of Christ’s work, not Muhammad’s)

Islamic societies are enslaved by ancient grudges and an inability to forgive. The prospect of civil war in Iraq can only be averted if someone chooses to forbear.

Regarding Denmark, no world leader should call killings over political cartoons “understandable.” It is absurd and immature, and deserves to be called so. We would never make excuses for such disproportionate reaction if it were any other religion, but we obviously do not expect Muslims to be as reasonable. I do, and I expect peace-minded clerics to denounce the riots. Urge Muslims who feel disrespected to act worthy of respect.

Any religion, or any society, that aspires to be a force for peace must embrace reason. If the rioters had stopped to think (and do a little Googling) rather than listen to axe-grinding clerics, lives could have been saved and Islam might have won converts instead of disdain.