What will it take for liberal U.S. journalists to stop calling Muslim and Christian "fundamentalists" similar threats to freedom of speech and freedom of the press? And when will American editors draft resolutions attacking the suppression of freedom now going on in Nigeria?
The horror of the Nigerian developments may make us miss whats happening to press liberty there. In case you missed the story, last month Muslim anger over a newspaper article about the Miss World beauty pageant touched off riots that left 220 dead and over 1,000 seriously injured.
How bad was it? Los Angeles Times correspondent Davan Maharaj reported that "thousands of Muslim youths armed with knives and machetes (were) burning cars and assaulting bystanders they suspected were Christian."
If some U.S. journalists dont feel much sympathy for Christians, they should read on: "Rioters pulled a local journalist off a motorcycle and told him he would be killed unless he could recite verses from Islams holy book, the Quran. The crowd released him unharmed when they realized he was Muslim."
Christian fundamentalists did not act that way when writers depicted Jesus as a homosexual or when an artist submerged a cross in urine. But perhaps we should look at the huge provocation that launched the disaster: A writer for the Nigerian newspaper ThisDay, speculating on how Muhammad would react to a beauty pageant, wrote that "he would have probably chosen a wife from one of them."
Thats It? Sure, given the tinderbox that Islamic extremists have made of northern Nigeria, it was a dumb comment to make. But its also a reasonable speculation, for stories about Muhammads life that have semi-sacred status within Islam show the religions founder appreciating and sometimes appropriating to himself the beauties of his time.
Book eight, numbers 3325 and 3328, of the sayings and deeds collected by the esteemed 9 century editor Abul Husain Muslim bin al-Hajjaj al-Nisapuri records how Muhammad heard that a young woman was so beautiful that a disciple said, "She is worthy of you only." Muhammad had her brought to him and was so enraptured that he "granted her emancipation and married her."
ThisDay could have footnoted its story with these and other references, but that probably would have increased the tensions. Nigerias Islamic "fundamentalists" dont want anyone to raise questions about how Muhammad actually lived, because that might hurt their effort to set up an extreme Islamic regime. Like some European kings up to several centuries ago, they think the job of journalists is to deliver propaganda for their cause.
Most Muslims in the United States are great citizens and enjoy living in a free country-but why do Muslim leaders in Nigeria and many other countries fear freedom? Do they believe that if people start thinking for themselves many will turn away from Islam?
Some countries under Christian influence were once governed by similar fears. But John Milton, the Puritan author of Paradise Lost, wrote in the 1640s, "Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so truth be in the field . . . let her and falsehood grapple; whoever knew truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter."
Miltons view soon took hold in countries led by Christians who had confidence in Gods providence. Miltons view is still suspect in much of the world, and especially in Muslim-dominated areas.
The enemies of journalistic freedom used to have their capital in Moscow; now its Mecca. Radical Islam has now replaced communism as the worlds most potent hater of press liberty.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo criticized ThisDay and said murderous riots could happen in his country "any time irresponsible journalism is committed against Islam." Thats whats so sad: This is not a one-time occurrence, but something to be expected "any time."
American journalists should do what we can to help those suffering persecution in other lands. We should also stop insulting Christians who, more and more, are prime defenders of freedom of the press.