Sleight of Hand

Christopher Hitchens, from Cartoon Debate, The Case for Mocking Religion:

Islam makes very large claims for itself. In its art, there is a prejudice against representing the human form at all. The prohibition on picturing the prophet—who was only another male mammal—is apparently absolute. So is the prohibition on pork or alcohol or, in some Muslim societies, music or dancing. Very well then, let a good Muslim abstain rigorously from all these. But if he claims the right to make me abstain as well, he offers the clearest possible warning and proof of an aggressive intent. [...]

I'm not sure what I think of that last sentence -- and Hitchens pushes the point further as the (great, great, great) article continues. What he doesn't address is that the vast majority of Muslims are staying out of this. There's a small malleable group being pushed by an even smaller group of fanatic religious leaders who are stoking the flames (the cartoons were printed five months ago!) and using this issue in many of the same ways that the American religioright uses the issue of abortion -- as a distraction.

Someone told me last week that he thought the Republican leadership didn't really want Roe v. Wade overturned because then they lose their pull with the religious population that is swinging the elections their way (and just barely) -- and there's a pang of truth to that. (Though I wonder if upholding the new ruling would provide the leverage needed.)

(While I've detoured to the current administration: I figured there had to be a linguist studying the Orwellian way language is being expertly used to repackage Our Fearless Leaders' actions and arguments. I found George Lakoff. Dig in.)

Back to the cartoon riots (fucking cartoon riots!), the only way I can see this is as a grand religious powergrab. (Google "grand religious powergrab" and you get nothing of use unfortunately.) And why? My best answer is that it's the only way for religiofantatacism to survive. These extrapolations are over-simplified but... The Danes better be a bunch of heathens because otherwise what's the downside to being the sixth richest country in the world? When a group has a common enemy, they stop or slow self-criticism and self-analysis. The only way to maintain fanatacism is to keep things fanatical.