How offended are you

The topic of the week has been those blasted cartoons first published in the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten and which depict the prophet Mohammed, which is supposedly not allowed. In spite of this a quick search on google will bring up numerous depictions and in 2001 the popular adult cartoon, South Park featured the Prophet in their spoof of classic American cartoon "Super Friends".

In discussions this week AnswerBankers explored this topic of religious sensitivity with typical aplomb. In response to a comment made on tv news, JohnnyGus asked if we thought Muslims are unfairly treated by Christians .

Englishbird asked for clarification regarding the rules in Islamic law over depicting images of Mohammed and LeedsRhinos wondered why it had taken so long for the Muslim protestors to demonstrate when the cartoons had been first published last year.

Pajama Girl points out that after the initial publication on 30 September, a group of Danish Islamic clerics compiled a dossier which not only included the Danish cartoons but extra ones that were deemed particularly offensive - even to non-Muslims. These were allegedly included by the clerics and taken to the Middle East when delegations were sent in December with the intended purpose to incite people to violence. Blogger Michelle Malkin features an interesting interview between a Danish broadcaster and an Islamic cleric over the included "pig snout cartoons" that caused particular offense.

The entire situation reeks terribly of conspiracy and extremist power play. As Gnisy mentions: "I am a free thinker but I believe there is a God and I believe in the power of religion. I am against acts of terror and war but there is a fine line between acts of terrorism and acts of retaliation. Fights don't start out of the blue. Someone has to start it."

If only people would just do the civilised thing and hash out their disagreements on the AnswerBank!