MSNBC: Cleric offers reward for killing cartoonist
“If the West can place a bounty on Osama bin Laden … we can also announce reward for killing the man who has caused this sacrilege of the holy prophet,” Qureshi told Reuters, referring to the $25 million U.S. bounty on the al-Qaida leader’s head.
Scarily enough, I can almost-sort-of understand this point of view. We even see similar (though obviously not exact) things happening with Western church leaders. Blasphemy is a big deal, and people need to realize that.
Of course, I think there is a big difference between drawing a picture and killing thousands of people.
This just makes me wonder if we are ever going to get to a point where we can co-exist. I want to believe we can and will, but there are so many people out there willing to disregard other people’s feelings, and so many people eager to take offense, that I’m pretty positive it won’t happen in my lifetime.
(I was thinking about Kyou Kara Maou the whole time I wrote this post. Too bad we don’t have a Shibuya Yuuri–someone who believes completely in the idea that people can understand each other, and who conveniently has the power to make it happen.)