Muhammad cartoon row

How did this become such a big story. Someone draws a couple of bad cartoons of the prophet Muhammad which are published in a Danish magazine in September and 4 months later the protests are headline news around the world. The editor of the paper was on the BBC tonight and claimed it was satire and humor, he says Danish magazines often publish cartoons that make fun of the Danish Royal family, of Jesus and now of Muhammad. He says it wasn't meant to be insulting.

I can understand Muslims being upset at the cartoons. Their religion forbids the creation of images of Muhammad, I believe its something to do with not worshiping false icons. Apparently they apply those rules to all the major figures of the Islamic, Christian and Jewish religions. Though the Danish editor claimed you can buy posters and postcards depicting Muhammad in Tehran. Can you? I hadn't heard that before. Next one of the images portrayed Muhammad wearing a turban where the drawing of the turban was one of those cartoons that merges two items so it went from being a turban to being a bomb with a lit fuse. That was a really stupid thing to draw. We wouldn't like it if someone drew a cartoon of Jesus showing him carrying a cruise missile instead of the Cross.

So now there are protests all over the world. Have the protests achieved anything? Nope, I dont think so. Infact they have actually worsened the situation because they frighten other cultures at a time when Islam and Christianity should be trying to build bridges. Even worse, they are the reason I saw the cartoons. I found them on the internet. Would I have seen them if there had been no protests, no. I would never have even heard of them, and if I had seen them I would have thought they were unimaginative drawings done by some high school kid.

Most Muslims are not out protesting and calling for death to all those who insult their religion on 24 hour news stations, but we don't see them. We see the photographs and videos of the protestors, after all those photos sell more papers.