I wanted to write and express my disappointment with the Daily Emerald for printing the illustration that appeared in the March 18 issue. The cartoon depicted a Quran, a Torah and a Bible with and arrow pointing toward a mushroom cloud. The caption underneath read, “A means to an end.” To say this is offensive is an understatement, but my problem is not with the artist or the message, but rather the simplistic nature of the message and the Emerald’s decision to print it. One can certainly make the case that religion has played a role in conflicts around the world throughout history, but the cartoon, it appears, seeks only to convey bitterness and resentment toward religion rather than to insight thought or dialogue.
I wonder if one of the Emerald’s illustrators chose to depict an African American with an arrow pointing toward a picture representing urban decay with the same caption, would the Emerald print it? Why not? I’m sure there are a lot of statistics that could suggest a correlation between African Americans and urban decay in America.
The Emerald (or any significant paper) would not print such an illustration because it’s supremely ignorant and fails to take into account a whole host of realities, such as poverty, politics, policy, economics and their relation to race. And most of all, it would be insulting. So too, is the suggestion that religion by itself leads to war. Human beings don’t need religion to wage war. They have plenty of greed, hatred and ignorance all on their own.
Religion and faith are deeply personal to millions of people everywhere and too big of an issue to be discussed lightly. The Daily Emerald is a fine campus newspaper that no doubt has a lot of intelligent and experienced people working for it, and as such, it has a responsibility to show a measure of respect to its audience. That’s why the decision to print something so lacking in thoughtfulness or content reflects poorly on the newspaper and the University and insults the intelligence of the audience, religious or not.