700 Club concluded cartoons have "unified" Islam against "West," asked if West will defend "its civilization"
SUMMARY: On The 700 Club, senior reporter Dale Hurd concluded a news report by claiming that controversial cartoons perceived as anti-Islamic "seem to have unified the Muslim world against the West," but that "[i]t remains to be seen whether they [the cartoons] will also unify the West in defense of its civilization." But, contrary to Hurd's suggestion of unanimity in the Muslim world, many of the religious leaders and government officials who represent Muslims have condemned the widespread rioting that followed publication of the cartoons.
During the February 8 edition of Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club, CBN News senior reporter Dale Hurd concluded a news report by claiming that controversial cartoons perceived as anti-Islamic "seem to have unified the Muslim world against the West," but that "[i]t remains to be seen whether they [the cartoons] will also unify the West in defense of its civilization."
But, contrary to Hurd's suggestion of the unanimity in the Muslim world, many of the religious leaders and government officials who represent the world's more than 1 billion Muslims have condemned the widespread rioting that followed publication of the cartoons. Muslim leaders including the chairman of Britain's Muslim Public Affairs Committee, America's Muslim Public Affairs Council, Germany's Central Council of Muslims [Agence France-Presse, 2/6/06], Azerbaijan's Board of Muslims of the Caucasus [BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 2/7/06], Lebanon's senior Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, scores of Muslim groups and community organizations in Ottawa and Montreal, leading imams in Kosovo [Agence France-Presse, 2/7/06], top Iraqi Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, and the international Organization of The Islamic Conference have all expressed displeasure with the cartoons but have nonetheless called for an end to the violence and urged protesters to employ peaceful means.
Officials from many governments have joined religious leaders in appeals for calm, including King Abdullah of Jordan, Saudi Arabia's U.S. ambassador, Prince Turki bin al-Faisal, a spokeswoman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, Kuwait's parliament, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
From the February 8 edition of CBN's The 700 Club:
HURD: The cartoons seem to have unified the Muslim world against the West. It remains to be seen whether they will also unify the West in defense of its civilization.
... in defense of cartoons? Are these cartoons integral to or synonymous with our civilisation? I think it's a tribute to Western political culture that we tolerate free expression, even when it is offensive to others. However, offending others is hardly a core value of Western civilisation.
Whatever extent of unity there is in the Muslim world, the unity is against the insult they perceive to their religion. It seems to me that we have little to defend in this case -- as people rioting in the Middle East have no censorial powers over newspapers in Denmark.
I think the newspapers, Bush, and other westerners are pretty unified already- they don't like the cartoons, but protect the right to publish them. That is the "western defense".
It remains to be seen whether they will also unify the West in defense of its civilization.
Wait a second... Isn't that how the crusades got started? Boy, those turned out well for the Christians didn't it?
The MEDIA shall choose which factions shall represent ALL muslims. We'll send you to die protecting OUR property.
I find it ironic that a organization who has positioned itself as a religious organization is actively building the stepping stones for a war. This is the Right wing Irony that is characteristic of the so called religious right. Lead by Mr. Bush's false patriotic claim we must establish our dominance in the Middle East, the 700 club has committed itself the the Bush doctrine to "Bring it On."
There was a diary posted recently on dailykos.com which gave an interesting explanation for the recent rioting and uproar, one which I have not seen reported in our mainstream media. This diary (I believe by SoJ) claimed that Saudi Arabia, through its government-controlled media and sympathetic imams, is mostly responsible for inciting the controversy about this cartoon which apparently was originally published back in September, with the intention of deflecting attention and outrage away from its own failure once again to protect pilgrims from being trampled to death at Mecca.