Wake Up and Smell the Coffee . . . If Coffee is Still Allowed

It amazes me that Europeans (and many Americans) continue to think Muslims can assimilate to Western Democracy. Yes, it is possible, and it's possible the Lions will win the Superbowl this season (I plan to continue using that comparison for the rest of this miserable NFL season). But right now, most indicators are strongly against it. The Muslims can't tolerate many voices in the public sphere. They want theirs to be the only one, and a disturbing large number of them are simply uncompromising about it. Quite frankly, I don't think they "get it."

Consider this story:

When Flemming Rose heard last month that Danish cartoonists were too afraid of Muslim militants to illustrate a new children's biography of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, he decided to put his nation's famous tolerance to the test.

The cultural editor of Denmark's largest newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, then recruited cartoonists to depict Islam's Prophet Muhammad and published them in the paper.

Since then, thousands of Danish Muslims, whose religion strictly prohibits depictions of the prophet, have demonstrated in protest, though some have rallied in support of the paper, too. Ambassadors from 11 Islamic countries including Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey signed a letter demanding that the Danish prime minister "punish" the newspaper. In contrast, a young Iranian woman started a petition in favor of the move. . .

"Some Muslims are asking for an apology pointing to a lack of respect," he says. "They're not asking for respect; they're asking for subordination - for us as non-Muslims to follow Muslim taboos in the public domain."

Although Rose expected some complaints, he was unprepared for the deluge of criticism.

Among those who attacked the newspaper's lack of sensitivity was prominent Copenhagen imam Raed Hlayhel, saying "I will not tolerate this. If this is democracy, we disagree with democracy."