Amanda.Greene@ReligionNews.com
American embassies around the globe are under seige this week as Muslims protest an American film "The Innocence of Muslims," which protestors say insults the Prophet Muhammad and denegrates Islam. (Incidentally, the movie trailer has gotten far more dislikes than likes on YouTube - 67,000 dislikes to 26,400 likes.)
Newsweek magazine's cover this week "Muslim rage" got somewhat humorous responses from Muslims around the world.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Islamic studies professor Omid Safi said the Muhammad would have chosen mercy not violence in the face of this controversy.
And Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan issued a fatwa against "Innocence of Muslims" producer, cast and crew on Monday (Sept. 17).
Coincidentally, September 30 is International Blasphemy Rights Day, a campaign for free expression.
So how much blasphemy is too much blasphemy? Where do you draw the line in comments about your belief system or diety or major religious figure?
Jana Greene | Sep 18, 2012 | 10:59am
My belief system is fast becoming the most culturally “acceptable” to blaspheme. The line crosses over into offense for me every single day, but I do not meet it with the hostility of fatwa because the cornerstone of my faith is LOVE. Attacking innocents with violence - even those who offend my beliefs - would speak volumes about my adherance to that same faith. Every day, my heart breaks for Christ, because he is blasphemed and excluded, his image bullied by popular culture and his name taken in vain. He is not “just” a prophet, but as the One who just happened to save my life, so he is personal family to me, Living God. Fortunately, he is really big on forgiveness, too. Father, forgive them - they know not what they do.
At the very, very least, there has to be respect for others. Those Islamists calling for jihad on “infidels” seem unable to live and let live…respect is a two-way street.
Mary Hart | Sep 19, 2012 | 10:26pm
I don’t draw any line. People are free to blaspheme. My becoming offended is irrelevant. God doesn’t need me to defend God. God is greater than all that. I do feel sad, however, when people seem unaware of the God’s love and mercy, for each one of us, not a select few. As a mother of a soldier who served a year in Afghanistan, I am more upset by the moviemaker who knowingly triggered these reactions. I’m frustrated by reckless insensitivity, not just to Islam, but to the people who are likely to be in harm’s way when the violence starts. In an ideal world, people wouldn’t riot and kill when their religion is offended. But that’s not the world we’re living in right now, and our men and women serving in Afghanistan and elsewhere are placed in even greater jeopardy when the these right-wing zealots are provoked.
Ladywriter1 | Sep 26, 2012 | 9:17pm
Personally, I find blaspheme a kind of invasion of one’s privacy and attack on “freedom of speech and free thought.” But I cannot wield a double edged sword; just as that is an invasion of sorts to me - to the point of cowardly… I must stay the course and allow others to believe and feel whatever way they do. Whether I agree with it or not. -DAC-
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