Cartoons

You wrote:

All this cartoon fuss is a clear indicator to me. We humans are odd creatures.

You won't get too much argument out of me on that point. It's not clear from your sentence which side of that furor you fall. For my part, I'm convinced the whole "outrage" thing is a purely manufactured thing on the part of the Muslims.

Despite all the talk about this being a war against "extreme" Islam only, I'm unconvinced. I do honestly believe we are at a crossroads in history. I believe what we are seeing is the first skirmish in a clash of civilizations. And they -- the Muslims -- are cleverly using all the devices of liberal western society against us: our civil protections; our pathetic sense of correctness; our worshipping at the altar of "diversity."

* * *

There has, of course, been many depictions of Jesus that are far, far more inflammatory than the cartoons that started all the fuss. Jesus in a jar of urine, or a painting of a naked Jesus with an erection. The novel "The DaVinci Code" is a long assault on Christ. Yet the Christian population does not rise up and burn buildings, threaten murder, or stage mass riots. Why not? I believe there are two reasons:

1. A vast majority of "Christians" are simply apathetic
2. A portion of Christians understand that the Truth of Christ is not diminished by slander; that Christ rises above any maligning; that regardless of the criticism or blasphemy, Christ remains Christ, now and forever.

Increasingly I fall into the second camp. This goes back to my "If A, then A" argument. What difference does it make, really, if someone paints an obscene picture of Jesus? Does that affect the magnificence of the actual Risen Christ? Not at all. Christ transcends all we may do. Pictures or cartoons don't change that.

That's not to say I like it or enjoy it; but I'm not compelled to riot or kill. Because ultimately it does not diminish Jesus. He can't be diminished. He simply is. I AM WHO I AM.

We'll see if I hold to this during the trials that come. I pray I do.