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摘要：笔者留学丹麦近两年,深感西方社会言论的高度自由。“德先生”已成为人民生活的基本准则之一。在丹麦这个500万人口的小国百姓生活殷实安康,的确不图有“童话王国”之虚名。然而，就在斯堪的纳维亚的丹麦人在北欧高福利的庇护下享受着他们高质量的安徒生似的生活时，他们万万没有想到丹麦报刊为测试言论自由而刊登的12副漫画会激起全球的穆斯林大骚乱。此次事件孰是孰非，站在不同的文化不同的价值观上看，结论难一。作为年初全球最大的文化冲突事件，笔者认为有必要回顾事件来龙去脉，让读者用自己的价值观来审视，评判和对待世界文化的多样性。
关键词：DEMANCRACY；CULTURE；CRISIS
It is not every day that CNN broadcasts live from Denmark. But this month cameras from the US news networks, as well as a host of Arabic and European stations were present to watch how the Prophet Cartoons Controversy is going.
12 cartoons printed in dairy newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2006 have angered Muslims. The newspaper, which had urged cartoonists submit drawings of the Prophet to test the boundaries of freedom of speech after an author complained that nobody dared illustrate his book on Mohammed, was accused of deliberately provoking and insulting Muslims by publishing the cartoons, which considered portrayal of Mohammed as a devil or a terrorist.
The same day the cartoons were published , the newspaper received a call threatening one of the twelve illustrators .Muslim organizations including the Islamic religious community ,have demanded apology, but the Jyllands-Posten editor-in-chief , Carster Juste rejected the idea. He said the cartoons have been a journalist’s project to find out how many cartoonists refrained from drawing the prophet out of fear. “We live in a democracy. Satire is accepted in this country, and you can make caricatures. Religion should not set barriers on that sort of expression. This doesn’t mean that we wish to insult any Muslims.” He said.Members of the Islamic Religious Community demonstrated against publication of the cartoons outside Copenhagen’s City Hall on the 21 Oct 2005.
In November, the Egyptian ambassador reiterated an appeal to the Danish government to take action on behalf of the Muslim Community. “Without speedy intervention by the Danish state the controversy involving cartoon of the prophet Mohammed could escalate if this is covered by the media in the Muslim world.” Mona Omar, the Egyptian Ambassador warned. In the mean while, 11 Muslim Ambassadors appeal the prime minister to condemn the cartoons. However, Fogh Rasmussen, the prime minister of Denmark, denied the ambassadors’ request, stating that controlling the press was simply not part of his job description in a free democracy and that freedom of expression weighted more heavily than personal feelings.
As what the Egyptian ambassador has warned the diplomatic and commercial storm over 12 caricatures spiraled out of control in February 2006 as countries throughout the Mid-East region took action against Denmark. Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kuwaiti, and Jordan recalled its ambassador from Denmark.. While the effects of Saudi Arabian boycott spread quickly turning into a blanket ban on Danish goods in several Mid-East countries, North Africa and Pakistan. Arla, one of the world’s largest producer of dairy products ,is the currently the hardest hit of Danish companies. Danish bank have estimated that if the boycott of Danish good drags on it could endangers as many as 11,200 Danish jobs. On 2 Feb , news broadcasts, already covering the crisis as it developed , added images of violent crowed burning pictures of prime minister of Denmark together with Bush ,the US president to the already commonplace picture of burning Danish flags.
Who would have imagine that “little” Denmark with 5 million in population will be the headline among the 6 billion inhabitants on earth this past two weeks? Although Fogh Rasmnusse and his advisers in the PM office have apparently underestimated the case’s importance, it all happened because almost 2 billion people were offend over the cartoon picture of their beloved prophet. By reviewing the whole crisis there are a few lessons we can learn.
Muslims take their religious seriously. Since September 11, the Islamic Community worldwide has been having a bad reputation because some radicals among them. This has created much pent up anger among the community and events like the cartoon “helps” to spill it over. By no way this justifies the acts of violence seen over the television screens. In fact, by their overreaction, they tend to disqualify their right to protest.（下转第９６页）
We live in a global world, Gone are the days when we can say “when in Rome,do as the Romans do”. In global world, Rome has to redefine what it means to be a Rome with global perspective .The world is no longer governed simply by national border lines. To live in a harmony, perhaps one of the last frontiers to be overcome is a mutual acceptance of cultures, religions and languages by internationals and nations. As humans, we do have the right to many things but not all things are right. Unfortunately, some of our rights can incur wrong actions if used inconsiderately. Obviously, we should see it before jumping .May God help us to live in peace with each other in spite of our inevitable differences.
关键词：DEMANCRACY；CULTURE；CRISIS
It is not every day that CNN broadcasts live from Denmark. But this month cameras from the US news networks, as well as a host of Arabic and European stations were present to watch how the Prophet Cartoons Controversy is going.
12 cartoons printed in dairy newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2006 have angered Muslims. The newspaper, which had urged cartoonists submit drawings of the Prophet to test the boundaries of freedom of speech after an author complained that nobody dared illustrate his book on Mohammed, was accused of deliberately provoking and insulting Muslims by publishing the cartoons, which considered portrayal of Mohammed as a devil or a terrorist.
The same day the cartoons were published , the newspaper received a call threatening one of the twelve illustrators .Muslim organizations including the Islamic religious community ,have demanded apology, but the Jyllands-Posten editor-in-chief , Carster Juste rejected the idea. He said the cartoons have been a journalist’s project to find out how many cartoonists refrained from drawing the prophet out of fear. “We live in a democracy. Satire is accepted in this country, and you can make caricatures. Religion should not set barriers on that sort of expression. This doesn’t mean that we wish to insult any Muslims.” He said.Members of the Islamic Religious Community demonstrated against publication of the cartoons outside Copenhagen’s City Hall on the 21 Oct 2005.
In November, the Egyptian ambassador reiterated an appeal to the Danish government to take action on behalf of the Muslim Community. “Without speedy intervention by the Danish state the controversy involving cartoon of the prophet Mohammed could escalate if this is covered by the media in the Muslim world.” Mona Omar, the Egyptian Ambassador warned. In the mean while, 11 Muslim Ambassadors appeal the prime minister to condemn the cartoons. However, Fogh Rasmussen, the prime minister of Denmark, denied the ambassadors’ request, stating that controlling the press was simply not part of his job description in a free democracy and that freedom of expression weighted more heavily than personal feelings.
As what the Egyptian ambassador has warned the diplomatic and commercial storm over 12 caricatures spiraled out of control in February 2006 as countries throughout the Mid-East region took action against Denmark. Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kuwaiti, and Jordan recalled its ambassador from Denmark.. While the effects of Saudi Arabian boycott spread quickly turning into a blanket ban on Danish goods in several Mid-East countries, North Africa and Pakistan. Arla, one of the world’s largest producer of dairy products ,is the currently the hardest hit of Danish companies. Danish bank have estimated that if the boycott of Danish good drags on it could endangers as many as 11,200 Danish jobs. On 2 Feb , news broadcasts, already covering the crisis as it developed , added images of violent crowed burning pictures of prime minister of Denmark together with Bush ,the US president to the already commonplace picture of burning Danish flags.
Who would have imagine that “little” Denmark with 5 million in population will be the headline among the 6 billion inhabitants on earth this past two weeks? Although Fogh Rasmnusse and his advisers in the PM office have apparently underestimated the case’s importance, it all happened because almost 2 billion people were offend over the cartoon picture of their beloved prophet. By reviewing the whole crisis there are a few lessons we can learn.
Muslims take their religious seriously. Since September 11, the Islamic Community worldwide has been having a bad reputation because some radicals among them. This has created much pent up anger among the community and events like the cartoon “helps” to spill it over. By no way this justifies the acts of violence seen over the television screens. In fact, by their overreaction, they tend to disqualify their right to protest.（下转第９６页）
We live in a global world, Gone are the days when we can say “when in Rome,do as the Romans do”. In global world, Rome has to redefine what it means to be a Rome with global perspective .The world is no longer governed simply by national border lines. To live in a harmony, perhaps one of the last frontiers to be overcome is a mutual acceptance of cultures, religions and languages by internationals and nations. As humans, we do have the right to many things but not all things are right. Unfortunately, some of our rights can incur wrong actions if used inconsiderately. Obviously, we should see it before jumping .May God help us to live in peace with each other in spite of our inevitable differences.