This is a tale of two religions.
On the one hand, Christianity: Regularly abused and slandered both in the western world and the Islamic heartland.
On the other, Islam: Protected by blasphemy laws in Muslim-majority states, and by a blanket of fear, political correctness and the racism of lowered expectations in the west.
Recently, of course, one of those incredibly rare events occurred, and a film offensive to followers of Mohammed appeared on YouTube. We know the result. Yet beyond the murder and mayhem in the Middle East, Africa and Europe, matters are less violent but equally worrying here in Canada.
I attended an anti-blasphemy rally in Toronto last weekend, and spoke to dozens of the perhaps 2,000 people who were there. They called for laws protecting Islam from offence, wanted to arrest people who insulted Muslims, screamed for the death penalty for the man who made the film. I was barged, threatened, abused and told I was a “Zionist liar” and an “evil man.”
Omar Khadr’s brother was there, proclaiming how proud he was of his sibling, and there were endless cries of Islamic triumphalism, anti-Semitism, and calls for violence.
Oddly enough, little of this was reported in the mainstream media, when there is ample evidence on film of what happened. But, as we’ve been told repeatedly for so long, all religions are the same and it’s fundamentalism that’s the problem.
Thing is, I’ve never been threatened with death by a Christian fundamentalist, never seen hundreds of people slaughtered by them, never really met more than a handful in my entire life.
So, back to the tale of two religions. The Edward Tyler Nahem gallery in New York opened its exhibition of “Piss Christ” this week, depicting a crucifix submerged in a jar of the artist’s urine. The creator of this trash, Andres Serrano, says it’s “meant to question the whole notion of what is acceptable and unacceptable.”
Oh please! You know this is acceptable, because it’s accepted. You’ll win even more awards, gets lots of applause for being so brave towards those nasty Christians, and that’ll be the end of it.
Just as happened when we had displays of the Virgin Mary covered in dung, and the Pope also in urine — quite a bodily waste fetish among these twits.
The point is not so much the bad, sad, pathetic art, but the reaction to it from those it directly offends.
The film about Mohammed is appallingly made, but does contain some truth about the man’s life.
The Christ in urine display is also appallingly bad, and says nothing of interest or authenticity about the life of Christ.
The Muslim response to the former is violence and demands for blasphemy laws, the Christian response to the latter a press release and indifference.
So, are all religions the same?
Only to the extent that all political ideas are the same, and all people the same. Fascism is not democracy, a saint not a mass murderer. They are as different as are religions. Frankly, we all know this, it’s just that some are too terrified to say it in public.
Hey, if the fanatics have their way, you won’t be allowed to anyway.
Michael is a weekly columnist with the Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg Sun newspapers, and in more than a dozen other daily and weekly newspapers across Canada. He is also a columnist for The Catholic Register, Catholic Insight, Catholic World Report, The Landowner, and The Interim. He also appears each Wednesday on Newstalk 1010 radio, and is a regular guest on networks as diverse as Russia Today and TVOntario.
He is the best-selling author of fourteen books, including biographies of G.K. Chesterton, H.G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. He has contributed to the Dictionary of National Biography and several other anthologies. He is published in many countries and in more than a dozen languages. His last two books were on the best-seller list for more than ten weeks.
He has received several honorary doctorates and awards for his writing and broadcasting. In 2005 he won The Ed Murrow Award for Radio Broadcasting, in 2006 The RTNDA Radio Broadcasting Award, in 2007 the Communicator Award in Hollywood and in 2008 the Omni Award for his television show. In 2012 The Catholic Civil Rights League gave Coren the Archbishop Adam Exner Award for Catholic Excellence in Public Life, and in the same year he was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for services to media. Michael Coren is a frequent speaker on a number of issues. Please visit the Public Speaking page for more details.
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