Why I’m not linking to the Prophet Muhammad Cartoons

Following my post last week (Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad) I’m getting a lot of hits from Yahoo and an increasing number from Google (always a few days behind Yahoo) from people looking for the Prophet Muhammad Cartoons. I have made the decision not to post a link, though a lot of bloggers have and in fact there is now even a well known blog collecting the names of blogs publishing the cartoons themselves.

I think a lot of people, Western Christians being well represented amongst their number, haven’t quite realised how offensive these cartoons were to Muslims. To quote a comment on the Religion in the Media weblog ‘GetReligion‘:

The cartoons weren’t simply depictions of the Prophet Muhammad; they were cruel drawings of him with extreme racially Semetic characteristics (drawing on Europe’s prior history of anti-Jewish prejudice) inferring extremely offensive and prejudiced sentiments.

If a series of cartoons were printed denying and mocking the Holocaust or depicting Martin Luther King Jnr. in virulent anti-Black messages the world would be rightfully outraged, and media personalities would barely dare to make a peep about ‘free speech’.

The other thing that is frustrating me somewhat is the tendency of people to judge an entire race or religion on the basis of that group’s extremists. Just because some Muslims have reacted with violence doesn’t make Islam a violent religion. Tempted as I am to name and shame the sites where I’ve seen this sort of view advanced I’m not going to give them the benefits of the extra two visitors a link from my blog would provide.

Update:
Some more balanced reflections from UK bloggers:
Faithful Progressive: Michelle Malkin & Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani: Two Responses to Cartoon Issue (Link via 42)
Richard Sudworth – imagine!: To Blaspheme or Not To Blaspheme? (Link via Bigbulkyanglican)