An effective political cartoon satirizes and brings to light absurdities and hypocrisies. The Danish cartoons were most ineffective in that regard. Except for the one with Muhammad turning away suicide bombers in heaven with, “Stop! There aren’t enough virgins left!” (which was somewhat funny), the rest are unclear, not funny, or just insulting without making a point. They fail as art or journalism and are in poor taste.

I also don’t buy the Pollyanna argument that the newspaper only printed them as an exercise in free speech. Clearly, there is contempt for Muslims and Islam behind the move. I’m all for engaging in honest and intelligent debate about the relationship of Islam vis-à-vis violence, oppression of women, freedom of speech and religion, pluralism, etc., but these inane cartoons are not a constructive contribution to that dialogue.

That being said, *of course* the European newspapers had a right to publish them, no matter how unwise the decision was. A free press is the cornerstone of a liberal democratic society. Radical Muslims boycotting Danish products, burning flags, attacking embassies, and issuing death threats come off as wild maniacal barbarians and embarrass the rest of the moderate Muslim world. Instead of honoring their tradition, they confirm every stereotype of Islam being a savage, totalitarian, and irrational religion and culture.

If Muslims truly want to follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad, they should remember how he always forgave personal insults, that he was quick to forgive, and that he showed mercy when others wanted revenge (at least according to the more authoritative ‘Hadith’, or recorded sayings of the Prophet). The mature response to the cartoons would have been to write a respectful letter to the editor stating how the images are hurtful and how they do not contribute to a useful dialogue. Instead, we have this cartoonish ‘clash of civilizations.’

This whole episode reminds me of the philosopher Ken Wilber’s paradigm of conflicting worldviews. Muslims seems to be stuck in the “blue” mythic order rung of human development. This includes an all-powerful Order (i.e., Allah) that gives meaning and purpose, an absolute rigid code of conduct and morals, a concrete-literal belief system, and a strongly conventional and conformist culture (herd mentality).

While the Western world still has elements of “blue” consciousness (Christian fundamentalists, extreme nationalists), it has largely evolved into the next two phases of human development: “orange” scientific rationalism (as in the Enlightenment, capitalism, secular humanism) and “green” ecological pluralism (as in postmodernism, deep ecology, relativism, diversity movements, political correctness).

The “orange” Westerners see the world through the lens of rationality and reason and value scientific truth and individual liberty, so they see Islam (and most “blue” cultures) as a completely outdated, obscurantist and dangerous way of life and of thinking. They are the ones most vehement in opposing radical Islam’s threat to secular society.

The “green” Westerners just want everyone to get along and hold hands, so they see any criticism of Islam and Muslims as bigoted, ignorant, and ethnocentric.

As an ex-Muslim, I sympathize with both “orange” and “green” impulses, while also understanding, though not subscribing to, the “blue” ones. The “green” worldview is good in that it helps build bridges of understanding between people, but it is ineffective in taking real ethical stands against injustices and irrational thinking which are prevalent in Muslim societies.

On the other hand, the problem with critiques of Islam is that they are often tainted with “blue” contempt and antipathy (from Christians who see Islam as a false religion and Muhammad as a murderous false prophet), or with “orange” arrogance and condescension (from secularists who mock all supernatural belief systems from their ivory tower academies). Now, most of the “orange” critiques are valid, in my opinion, but they need to be sensitive like the “greens” in acknowledging that all human societies pass through the “blue” mythic phase and that it is integral to human development.

Islam is in dire need of a vertical spirituality as embodied by many Sufis, as opposed to flat rigid totalitarian religiosity of the radical Wahhabis, Salafis, and other extremist-literalists. Unless moderate Muslims speak up and take back the reins of their faith, the radicals will end up destroying that which they claim to cherish.