Exloring Life Eternal

This is a letter to the editor of the "Michigan Daily" the student paper of the University of Michigan - in response to an editorial attempting to justify not publishing the "controversial" cartoons but only publishing blank spaces:

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You wrote a justification for not publishing some political cartoons satirizing "Muhammed" but only publishing blanks. To my knowledge, none of them portrayed the Arabian poet since he is dead & the Arabian conquistadors did not possess any weapon of mass destruction other than swords & animals.

Please forgive the delay in replying, but after considering the issue of not wanting to offend unnecessarily:

If it is okay to offend other religious groups ...
& If it is okay to offend politicians ...
& If it is Islam has a definite political component (something that any half-honest Muslim in political science would concur with) ...
Then why should a paper that has a page of editorials that are bound to offend, be afraid to offend people by including cartoons of a person named Muhammed, though in some of them there was no direct portrayal of Muhammed the dead poet of Arabia, whom many Muslims praise? (Who died without any certainty of peace with God & thus many are still attempting to wish peace upon him.)

These cartoons are accessible on the internet quite freely & are all rather innocuous. Much worse & more libelous things have been said in your own publication of living people who hold power over militaries & jails.

Or, to put it another way,
If it is okay to search for truth ...
& If we may speak against what is not true ...
& If Islam is not true & rational (unless the presence of weaponry & threat of violence changes your mode of rationality) ...
Then why is it wrong to say that Islam is not an honorable system, but an oppressive system?

For one example of a former Muslim who came to this conclusion: look at Dr. Wafa Sultan from Syria who was featured in March 11, 2006 New York Times.

For an example of a nation affected by the Islamic Sharia Law mentality: look at Afghanistan under the Taliban.

Thanks for your re-consideration of this vital matter.

My conclusion: you are scared for your jobs & don't want your resumes tarnished by honest reporting. Why are you scared of dead people?

Abdul Kalimatullah // Mert Hershberger
M.A. - Theology
M.A. - International Development