At a discussion yesterday, AU professors said that the debate over freedom of the press and respect for religion shows the need for an open dialogue in response to the upheaval about the provocative Muhammad cartoons that ran in a Danish newspaper.
As previously reported in The Eagle, tensions between Western countries and the Muslim world erupted when the Danish paper chose to publish cartoons that portrayed the prophet Muhammad, despite the fact images of Muhammad are prohibited in Islam. Yesterday, AU faculty members presented students background on the publishing of the cartoons and offered explanations for the reactions that followed.
Dr. Muhammad Abu-Nimer, professor in the School of Public Affairs who focuses on dealing with conflict resolution and peace building, discussed the reaction of these cartoons within the Muslim community.
"Even if they are just images, they matter for people around the world," Abu-Nimer said. "You don't want to see a holy person, a prophet, with a bomb in his hands."
Abu-Nimer said there is underlying cultural causes that have created such a violent reaction within the Muslim community. He stated that the Arab world feels under attack from the West, and has felt this way since the Crusades.
Abu-Naser also noted that there is a paradox between the West, which values its freedom of expression, and the Muslim community, who is willing to be censored by their government.
"Every Muslim country, every Arab regime, practices harsh censorship," Abu-Naser said. "Muslims are comfortable with censorship."
School of International Service professor Gary Weaver, who specializes in international and cross-cultural communication, addressed the reaction in America, saying that the U.S. reaction is partly built off of fear.
"One of the things that strikes me is the element of fear and what a strong motivator fear can be," Weaver said. "The need for an enemy seems to be very strong especially in times of political and technological change."
According to Weaver, when evaluating the reaction to the cartoons, it is important to consider the religious, political and historical context, noting that America highly values its freedom of expression and government independence, which is a fundamental shift from Muslim countries.
"There are certain limits on the freedom of speech," Weaver said. The question is "do you show enough respect for someone not to cross certain lines."
Patricia Aufderheide, a School of Communication professor who specializes in the impact the media has on society, said the conflict over the first amendment should promote an international dialogue that deals with differences in culture.
All of the panel members were in agreement that the ideal outcome of this controversy surrounding the cartoons, is the creation of dialogue to discuss the differences in Western and Muslim cultures.
"It is very difficult to imagine a first amendment hat only applies when everything is going well," Aufderheide said. "The solution to bad speech, exercised through the First Amendment, is more speech"
