The Nuance

Mitzker and I attended a panel discussion about the Danish cartoons last night. An art historian talked about how it’s not wholly true that images of Muhammad are forbidden and she showed slides of images from a range of past and present contexts. A journalism professor talked about how publishing the cartoons represented a breach of ethics because they weren’t focused on a person in the news, but a general attack on a specific religion. A political scientist talked about “who benefits” from the cartoons. He pointed out that the Danish paper that published the cartoons is a mouthpiece for a right wing anti-immigration political party in Denmark and that party’s membership has jumped 15 %. He also pointed out that the French paper that later published the cartoons (and additional incendiary cartoons that were not of the original 12), increased their circulation from 45,000 to 600,000 with the publication. And a religious studies professor talked about how Muslims in general get lumped together when small groups react violently to current events. He reviewed principles of nonviolence that are part of Islam. I liked hearing talks from these multiple perspectives. Nuance is nice, I think. After the talk, we headed out for our favorite salad, The Wedge, and a glass of wine. A fun evening and we’re resolved to attend more campus lectures in future.