The cartoon controversy should be the best opportunity to educate the public about Islam.

Religious Tolerance is indeed an important issue in a multi-racial/religion society.

Understanding the religion will definitely promote this cause.

I am so sick and tired of the Muslim world and their outrageous double standards (kill the Jews, Americans and now the Danes.)
A peaceful religion??? Wipe countries off the map...the diatribe goes on and on and on...What is really shameful is how easily poor uneducated people can bo so easily swayed by bitter old men who cliam to be "of God" the hate and prejudice they spawn is horrifying. Now I ask Who will be burning in hell for that? There is absoloutely nothing good, positive or honorable about the Muslim world these days.... The Muslim radicals are doing an excellent job of turning the rest of the civilized world against the Muslim faith completely... keep it up...

Anna,

"The cartoons slandering Allah critisised and entire Islamic religion and reflected upon ALL Muslims badly."

Yes, the "cartoon" took a broad stroke and arguably criticised all of Islam. Remember though...it is just a cartoon. This needs repeating...it is just a cartoon. Pen and ink...or pixels on your screen. No one was physically harmed by this or any other cartoon.

I also agree that Muslim extremists who utilize terrorism represent only a small part of all Muslims. However, there is a very significant percentage of Muslims who stand idly by while the small percentage of extremist-terrorists commit their atrocities in the name of Islam. Those atrocities involve the subjugation, torture, and murder of people all in the name of Islam and are infinitely more insulting to Islam than any stupid cartoon. But, as this cartoon points out, there is no outrage against actual real atrocies but only outrage at harmless pen and ink and pixels on a screen.

"Thus, I think that Muslims have a right to be angered over the cartoons and a Western cartoonist, who is clearly very ignorant, makes the assumption and generalisation that all Muslims commit these crimes, when it is clearly only a small minority."

No one is saying "that all Muslims commit these crimes." The cartoon merely raises the fact that the vast majority of the world's Muslim population, who do not commit atrocities themselves and who are so outraged over harmless cartoons, do not raise their voice over real actual horrendous atrocities committed in the name of their beloved and sacred religion.

Go watch the videos of beheadings of Paul Johnson, Nick Berg and others and listen to the murders chant Allahu Akbar while they hack the heads off of helpless living breathing persons in the name is Islam. And, what do Muslims around the world do in response...like the cartoon says...no outrage.

The shame of Germany isn't that all Germans were Nazis. There were very few Nazis in World War II Germany. Rather, the shame of Germany is that so many sat idly by while others committed atrocities in their name.

Imagine a room of a thousand people where, a hundred people cheered on just three people who were allowed to torture and kill a loved one of yours. Would you have no criticism of the 900 who stood by or of the 100 who cheered as the 3 committed the crime? Would you really waste your time criticising someone in a different building who later drew a silly harmless cartoon pointing out the dirty hands of those who stood idly by while your loved one was needlessly slaughtered?

So, no...a Muslim does not have the right to be angered over a mere cartoon, unless such Muslim has shown near infinitely greater anger over Islam's "treatment of women, hostage beheadings, suicide bombings, honor killings" and all other atrocities committed in the name of Islam.

Atifa,

"I really disagree with you. Not every Muslim thinks that the answer to anything that angers us is violence."

I've already addressed this in the comments above. Let me repeat, I agree that not every Muslim thinks that the answer to anything that angers them is violence...only the "extremist Muslims" do and that is why I use the term "extremist Muslims" and not just "Muslims."

"You only look at the Muslims that you see in the Middle East that are killing.

Nope, I look a the Muslims all over the world that are killing.

"Have you ever once mentioned the Muslims that are regular people just like you or I?"

Oh, I very much agree that Muslims are regular people just like you or I...that's why I hold them to the same standard as you or I. Well, they are regular except for all that killing stuff by the extremists and all that look-the-other-way and get-upset-over-cartoons stuff by a huge percentage of the non-extremists. Here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, there was a courageous Muslim that wrote a letter condemning the actions of Osama Bin Laden. He was kicked out of his mosque. That said a lot about one Muslim and the many Muslims in his mosque who are far away from the Middle East.

"There are extremist Jews, Christians, Hindus and every other type of religion out there."

You are absolutely right there are extremists in every other religion...there just aren't as many, nor as many murdering innocent women and children around the world in the name of their religion.

"They are a small bunch out of millions."

Studies, polls, and surveys reveal extremists number around 15%, but let's assume just 5% or even 1% of Muslims are extremists who enjoy hacking non-believer's heads off with a dull knife while their innocent victims bodies writhe and gurgle. There are about one-billion Muslims in the world. That means just 1% equals 10,000,000. So, there are somewhere between 10-50 million people who would love to slit my and my family's throats as we sleep tonight while chanting the name of their God over and over. I do find this a comforting thought. I think that any reasonable person would find this to be a very significant problem.

"You are lumping us all together and that is definitely not fair.

I am not lumping non-extremist Muslims with extremist Muslims. On the contrary, I am attempting to be very clear in distinguishing between the minority of evil doers and the majority look-the-other-wayers who somehow find more outrage in a cartoon than the despicable acts carried out in the name of their religion.

"What if all of the Muslims said that all of the Christians are just like Jeffrey Dauhmer?"

First, saying it, does not make it true. Second, how many Jeffrey Dahmer's are there? And, see the calculation above, how many extremist Muslims are there. The problems of Jeffrey Dahmer, or even people like Jeffrey Dahmer, and extremist Muslims are not at all comparable. The Dahmers of the world are not oppressing millions nor conducting wholesale slaughter around the world.

"I definitely disagree with the cartoons and the Muslims and their violent reaction."

Great! I'm glad that we could end on a common belief. But, your telling me this is akin to preaching to the choir. If you want to make a difference, share your opinion with an extremist Muslim. They are websites all over the internet. They need to hear your opinion that their actions are unacceptable. I already know it.

biatach,

"And why, may I ask, do you feel non-extremist Muslims have any kind duty to speak out against extremists? They are not the extremists themselves. They do not necessarily know the extremists in question. Belonging to the same faith as someone does not make you responsible for the actions of other members of that faith..."

So, you've got no problem with members of every group you belong to, including those which comprise your most fundamental beliefs, committing atrocities every day all over the world in the name of your group and in the name of your beliefs? Wow, that's a pretty cool moral/ethical belief system you have there. You get to go through life never taking responsibility for anything because you didn't actually commit the act yourself. You just wake up in the morning during WWII Germany and sweep the ashes off your doorstep and go about your business baking bread for the Nazis. Nice.

"...nor does make you any less of a person is you do not condemn those actions."

Yes, despite your denial, it does make you less of a person to not condemn those actions.

"I'm an Australian. Does that mean I have to speak out when other Australians do bad things? No frickin' way."

With regard to your Australian example, we're not just talking about little innocuous "bad things." What a sick trivialization of the atrocities being committed around the world in the name of Islam. If a small but significant percentage of Australians were going around the world oppressing women, cutting heads off and intentionally murdering innocent women and children and...here's the important part...proclaiming that they were doing it because they are Australian, that it is a part of being Australian, that all Australians must do it, that the Constitution of Australia demands it, and singing the Australian national anthem, Advance Australia Fair, while they saw heads off. If all that was going on, I don't think that it would be unreasonable for people around the world to ask that the majority of supposedly peace loving Australians who don't agree with such acts and beliefs to not just be silent and look the other way but actually speak out and, heaven forbid, do something about it!

"You seem to me to be condemning Islam because a minority of its members commit atrocities and every other member of the religion isn't up in arms about it."

I am not condemning Islam. However, as the title of this post points out, I am critical of Muslim double-standards, the rampant hypocrisy that pervades radical Islam, and the large percentage of Muslims who are silent and/or who expend their energies attacking Westerners for the tiniest of slights while ignoring the atrocities committed by those within their religion which truly defame Muhammad.