EDITORIAL

"God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference"

- Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr

Ethically and Politically Incorrect

By Prof. Talaat I. Farag

Dear Uncle Sam,

More than two years prior to the publication of the infamous cartoon of Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper and the ensuing global row, the Ambassadors Magazine expressed its dismay at a similarly insensitive act of defamation published in a book by US comedian and television personality Bill Maher. Unfortunately, it seems little has been learned from the critical questions we published in the Editorial dated January 2003 (Vol.6, Issue 1). In the essay entitled, "Politically and Ethically Incorrect" we criticized Maher's book When you ride Alone you ride with bin Laden noting,

"The book is a collection of cartoons coupled with a political commentary from Maher, and included a cartoon showing a spoof boxing match between an animated Jesus Christ and prophet Mohammed, depicted in a particularly derogatory fashion. Jesus is decorated with a crown of thorns and prophet Mohammed is shown with veil covering his face. Both are wearing boxing shorts with their names and marked with crosses and crescents along the sides!!". As far as I know, Islamic tradition prohibits any representation of Prophet Mohammed. There has been no record of his depiction, let alone in a caricature of this kind. By simply placing two religious figures in such a scenario, is in many respects, offensive to both their followers and adherents, who amount to more than 2 billion.

On behalf of my colleagues in the Ambassadors Magazine who hail from 18 nationalities, and of Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh faiths, we request an urgent deletion of this unacceptable cartoon from his book. We also ask for an apology from Bill Maher, a man who in the past has done much for freedom of speech in the US. Strangely enough, at a time when politicians and publics alike try to narrow the gap between cultures and civilizations, not only is Maher's act politically incorrect, it is also ethically unredeemable! "

Critiquing Religions

Unfortunately, it seems that there is a rising movement in many Western countries that targets and desecrates people’s religious beliefs. In a similar situation as Maher’s cartoon, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten created global criticism after publishing on September 30, 2005 twelve editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Critics of the cartoons have described them as Islamophobic and argue that they are blasphemous, with the intention to humiliate Muslims, thereby displaying an ignorance of the history of Western imperialism, from colonialism to the contemporary conflicts in the Middle East today. Supporters of the cartoons’ publications argue that they express an age of Islamic extremist terrorism and that their publication is an exercise of free of speech. They further claim that similar cartoons about other religions are frequently printed and that followers of Islam were not targeted in a discriminatory way. Regardless of intention, the depiction of Prophet Mohammed through these cartoons resulted in angry violent protests all over the world.

As offensive as the cartoons were, the popular reaction was so immense because of efforts to incite anger and violence. Rather than explaining to the Danish public and the press the offense caused by these cartoons and the prohibition of depicting the Prophet Mohammed, Danish Islamic scholar, Ahmed Akkari, 31, traveled throughout the Arab World with spiral-bound booklets containing the cartoons and distributed these images to the Arab people with the intention of eliciting a response. He also failed to explain to Muslims that criticism of religions in Western countries undermines and offends peoples of all faiths not just Islam. Rather he gave a message to the Muslim world that Denmark had become home to blasphemy towards Islam!

In another expression of religious criticism, Dan Brown's bestselling book, The Da Vinci Code (published in 2003 by Doubleday) although fictional has been used to change the image of Jesus’ life as it is believed and described by both Christians and Muslims worldwide. Many have charged that Brown has intentionally created an image of Jesus inconsistent with historical accounts for the sole purpose of achieving global fame through a substantial and lucrative marketing strategy. A mere three years later, the book has already sold more than 60.5 million copies and translated to 44 languages. The book generated criticism, due to its speculative misrepresentations of core aspects of Christianity, the history of the Roman Catholic Church, earning negative reviews from Christian and non-Christian communities alike, as well as historians.

A Word from the Middle East

Despite the efforts to create rifts between adherents of different faiths, both Muslims and Christians in different Arab countries walked together, hand-in-hand, to express their regret at the negative depictions of their religious figures. Their refusal of derogatory representations of each others’ religions is considered unacceptable; from cartoons of prophet Mohamed or public attacks on Jesus and the Virgin Mary. In fact, one of the largest Muslim countries Pakistan, banned the movie, The Da Vinci Code, out of respect for Jesus Christ whom they consider a revered prophet.

In Egypt, His Eminence Dr. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, Sheikh of Al-Azhar and highest authority in the Islamic world, invited Prince Charles of Wales to grant him a doctorate from the prestigious Al-Azhar University, making him the first non-Muslim to receive such honor.

In a recent visit to the Middle East, I experienced firsthand the type of mutual respect and admiration of peoples from different nations and of different faiths. Last March, during my time in the Gulf region I attended the First International Kuwait Medical Genetics Conference, where distinguished Western and Muslim scientists came together in a demonstration that the immense similarities between different faiths are far greater than the differences. The conference invited many distinguished international non-Muslim scientists including Prof. Karl Sperling (Germany), Prof. Michael Patton (London), Prof. Sandy Raeburn (Nottingham), Prof. Irmgard Nippert ( WAO ), Prof. Y.S Poortman ( WAO), Prof. Bradford Therrell (USA), Prof. Albert Schinzel (Switzerland), and Dr. G. H. Mochida (Japan). I very much enjoyed witnessing scientific cohesion between all participants, alongside Sunni and Shia Muslim medical geneticists from Arab countries and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

How to Win Friends?

Living in an era that seems to be plagued with madness, violence and disrespect for multiculturalism, it may be useful if Uncle Sam and other read a previous Editorial to learn the impact of offending others’ cultures and religions.

Also we ask Uncle Sam to revisit one of the earliest and most influential self-help books, written by Dale Carnegie in 1936. Translated to many languages and eventually selling more than 15 million copies, How to Win Friends and Influence People. It became a guide for improving personal and professional relationships and is the grandfather of all people-skills books and is just as useful today as it was when it was first published, because Carnegie had an understanding of human nature that will never be outdated. Before you can learn the social principles to fascinate, titillate, and captivate you need to know the fundamental principles of dealing with people. He teaches these skills through the underlying principles of dealing with people so that they feel important and appreciated.

This book sends a very important message that I echo today, which is that we cannot win friends without rationalizing and respecting their cultures and beliefs under the umbrella of multiculturalism.

Prof. Talaat I. Farag
Former Adjunct Professor, Dalhousie University
Founder & Director, The Ambassadors Research Foundation
Email: tfarag@dal.ca