Before I get too far and people wrongfully accuse me, I wish to be clear that I am indeed very much in favor of free speech and very thankful that I do not have to be afraid of what I say in this country. This though does not detract from what many people feel is an abuse of this great privilege of ours in America and elsewhere.

Case in point was the absolute bipartisan insanity over the supposed depiction of the Prophet Muhammad (saas- may the peace and blessings of God be upon him) that divided the Muslim and non-Muslim West. On one side, some enraged Muslims wrongfully lashed out at society in various riots, acts of terror and general acts of mayhem. To be fair though, far more Muslims expressed their disapproval through peaceful demonstrations and actions designed to educate the public in general on who the Prophet Muhammad was and why we love him so dearly.

On the other side too there were those in the non-Muslim world who defiantly proclaimed their right to depict the Prophet in any way they wished – insulting or not – as guaranteed by the freedom of speech. Again, to be fair though, a large number of other non-Muslim Westerners disagreed with this position as voiced to me by one airplane seat-mate of mine who was visiting the US from Denmark. She reported to me that on the contrary, a number of surveys in her country had shown a majority of Danes were unhappy with their government’s position and felt there was very much a difference between freedom of speech and respecting someone else’s feelings.

Seeing the obvious support for the freedom to insult and disrespect that seemed to predominate – at least as portrayed in the media – I was thus quite surprised two months ago to read about how a number of outraged Catholics in Austria succeeded in having a sacrilegious painting of the Last Supper removed from Vienna’s Roman Catholic St. Stephan’s Cathedral museum. They were no doubt appropriately offended by the so-called “work of art” by celebrated Austrian artist Alfred Hrdlicka which depicted “a homosexual orgy” of the Apostles as Hrdlicka described it. This homo-erotic version of Christ’s Last Supper immediately came under fire by Church patrons to the museum as well as across the Christian world where bloggers in both Europe and the US rightfully decried the painting as a “blasphemy” and “desecration”.

Instead of invoking the almighty right of freedom of speech though, something amazing happened - the museum respectfully took down the painting at its Cardinal’s request just over a week after the ‘Religion, Flesh and Power’ exhibition had opened. Cardinal Schoenborn, the archbishop of Vienna, said through a spokesman regarding his decision, “This has nothing to do with censorship, rather corresponds with the understood “reverence for the sacred”. He continued, “It is also an act of respect towards those believers who feel this portrayal offended and provoked them in their deepest religious sensitivity.”

As Muslims who believe in the Qur’an and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, we have a great love, admiration and respect for the Messiah, Jesus the son of the Virgin Mary (saas). Just as we were offended by the sacrilegious depiction of our beloved Prophet Muhammad in newspaper cartoons, we are equally offended to the highest degree by any portrayal – visual, written or otherwise – of any of the great Prophets of God. As a Muslim, I am still horrified that although the Last Supper painting was removed there continue to be other works of “art” that remained in that display like that of a Crucifixion picture showing a soldier simultaneously beating Jesus and holding his genitals.

So in conclusion, although it appears to me to be a double standard, I am very pleased to see that freedom of speech was not abused to keep such a piece of trash masquerading as art in the Cathedral museum. I also hope this will lead to further discussion and reflection in the Western world regarding a delineation between freedom of speech and “reverence for the sacred” so that we may truly become a global civilization that respects all of its members.

You get in line where it says “US citizens” and await your turn to have your passport stamped by the Customs agent. As you come up to his cubicle you are relieved to see that the smiles really are there. The agent greets you with a “Welcome home!” as he takes your passport. As he scans it, he asks you the typical questions: “Where were you? How long did you stay? What was the purpose of your visit?” The problem is that all of a sudden the smile disappears and they don’t really seem to be paying attention to your rambling on about the crazy drivers in Rome. They seem taken aback by some ominous message which appears to have come up on their computer. The poor agent in fact looks very distraught at whatever it is he sees. He reads it again to be sure. Then he tells you in a very serious voice, the smile long having faded, that you need to step to the wall or to the side and wait for another “agent”.

“Is there a problem?” (more…)