This is a portrait of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, in an obvious "Uncle Sam" pose. I could explain my meaning and why I would do something so inflammatory, and most of you wouldn't care, but I don't feel the need to. I feel that good art should have a reason or a meaning, and this one does too, but I think its more important that we see what it means today. A few months ago, two of my favorite contemporary artists cam under fire for their satirical commentary of the prophet Muhammad, Trey Parker and Matt Stone the creators and minds behind South Park. They had a two part episode that adressed the taboo nature of Islam, in this episode all of the celebrities that the show has poked fun at or attacked joined together to capture Muhammad in order to steal his ability to not be talked about at all. The celebrities, led by Tom Cruise, held the entire town of South Park hostage in until they brought Muhammad to them. The most clever of all things is that in the South Park world, it was just as it was here, in order to bring the Muhammad to the celebs, they needed to see his, or expose him to the "public" eye, obviously the town was in fear of attack for doing so. They devised a plan to have him transported around which was perfect, a U-Haul truck and a bear costume. This is all the viewing world saw, a bear suit and a U-Haul truck, he said maybe six muffled words. Because of all this, there was mass responses from Islamic people and various representatives, Comedy Central saw no alternative other than to censor and then censor eve more (most of which without Trey and Matt's knowing), to a point that the season is on hold and the episode is not being shown online as all others are. This is in excusable, even if you thought that these men were directly trying to harm the Islamic people, you can't threaten or censor them simply because you don't like it. This is not just a principle of the US, this is a ideal that should ring clear throughout the world. All people should be allowed to speak their minds, without fear of repercussions from a government or organization. If you disagree with what a show says, simply stop watching it and if enough people agree with you, the show will slowly fade into nonexistence. I've heard from Matt and Trey that most of their shows have very little intentional meaning, they're just having fun. This is the reason why I feel I don't need to explain my meaning when I present this drawing, it is here to incite. I want you to think about the consequences we face in censoring, "...Evil should be averted by more speech and not enforced silence". I think the thing that angers me most about this subject is the nation of Islam condoning violence towards anyone who would dare show their prophets visage. When the prophet Muhammad said that imagery should be averted, he spoke of idolizing, and taking away from God (Allah). This is a wonderful idea, but the holy, taboo nature Muslims have given him has risen him to a point of a deity already. By holding above all other people you defeat what he had intended. I personally feel that Islam has many wonderful ideals, but as with most religions, the people who follow them have bastardized the essence that made it important. I will say that I am not a Muslim, nor should it matter, I am a child of this world and my beliefs should not hinder my existence nor yours.
