CLUSTERFUCK

Read the news this morning about the journalists at Charlie Hebdo wanting to post another series of cartoon depicting Prophet Muhammad and it's just...really? Is it really necessary?

The entire shooting incident and heightened Islamaphobia and continually perpetuated acts of violence cloaked under the name of religion is just...disappointing, to say the least. The years of societal evolution and whatever progress we thought we had made has clearly amounted to naught in light of recent events.

I remember reading somewhere that there are two types of Atheism: One that does not believe in any religious entity, and one that mocks other people for believing in one. You don't believe in the concept of religion? Great, do you boo. You believe in the presence of a higher power? That's great for you too. Why is one entitled to disparaging the other just because you don't share the same views? Why is there this inherent need to force everyone to converge to your opinions? Mass convergence does not validate or invalidate your opinion. Have we progressed so far only to denounce the concept of coexistence? I'd like to think that homogeneity is not a prerequisite for coexistence.

The following paragraph I'm about to write is based on what little information I know but from what I understand, the Quran does not explicitly state that the visual illustration of Prophet is disallowed - although in practice everyone seems to err on the side of caution to prevent idolatory. There are also differing views between religious scholars from the different sections of Islam but the general consensus towards any visual interpretations of the Prophet is just to not do it because it is deemed as monumentally disrespectful.

Which brings me to the concept of being respectful. Every religion/culture has their own set of rules and practices. If you practice it and follow its set of guidelines, good for you. If you don't, good for you too. Why is all of a sudden acceptable to mock others who are different, just because you don't see eye to eye with them? And this is especially so when the belief is something as none-of-ya-damn-business as visual illustration. Yes, you might find certain aspects ridiculous, preposterous even. But even so, seeing comedic value in something is just not good enough of a reason to trivialize an entire culture. 

I see this argument all the time - why is it that XXX religion can be drawn and made fun of and nobody makes a peep but when someone draws the Prophet, the Islamic community makes a big deal? The simple answer is this: It is an unfair comparison. Mocking aside, one religion regards visual interpretation with a colossal "oh hell naw!" while the other literally has a 30m tall concrete model set on a 8m tall pedestal built atop a 70m tall mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro. Granted, depiction does not equal acceptable mockery, but surely you can see the lack of sense in arguing the point of why you can draw one but not the other, and for satirical purposes at that.

This entire series of events is just a colossal mistake.

It is not a "freedom of expression". It is an inherent ego trip that condones disrespect because somehow by default, your own differing opinion automatically invalidates everyone else's.

It is not "avenging your religion". It is a gross and unnecessary act of violence cloaked under religion because somehow, avenging your own beliefs have transcended even the most basic of morality.

Now that I have successfully sucked out any ounce of silver lining to this post, who is interested in reading about the recent Pegida (Patriotic Europeans against Islamification of the West) marches happening in Germany? Aka the single European country that has handed out the most number of humanitarian admissions to asylum seeking refugees from war torn Syria than the rest of the world (minus Syria's neighbouring countries) combined. Oh wow. Really? REALLY? Ganging up and vilifying an entire religion because of a few black sheep? Fear mongering amongst the ignorant? Perpetuating unfair stereotypes just because it is easier than trying to make peace with the fact that differing opinions are natural and can actually, *gasp* exist together in harmony?

Doesn't it ring a damn bell?

This entire string of events is just snowballing into a gigantic clusterfuck.

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