A thought on "The Cartoons"

A quick thought about the worldwide fuss over the "offensive" Mohammed cartoons and the violence that has ensued in the Muslim world since the release of them. I get the sense that some people are looking at the riots and destruction that is taking place over these cartoons and are some how blaming it (Some in a passive aggressive way) on the Religion of Islam. I've heard some people, members of the media and public, says things like, "Wow, those Muslims are so violent." or, "Why are Muslims getting so upset and destructive over a cartoon." The conversations in which these things are uttered often also have very "PC" conscious participants who don't want to offend any Muslims who may be within earshot but they also are very blatantly speaking as if they are talking down to the Muslim faithful. (They are not as good as us.) I should also mention that these people I hear on TV, the radio, and in public, are all of faiths other than Islam.

But I must ask this; is the violence that is taking place over this issue a product of a specific faith or a specific environment? I believe it's more the environment than any sort of faith system. That environment being one of poverty, oppression, poor education, and restricted information. And many of the areas where the violence is happening, also happens to fill the criteria for the type of environment in which I believe this type of overreaction is most likely to occur. Could or would Christians do such things over offensive cartoons of Jesus? I think many U.S. Christians would immediatly answer, "No way!", just as many U.S. Muslims (Living in a free, weathly, educated, and info rich society) would as well. But just switch the environments and place the Christians in a society where they are truly oppressed, living in poverty, with poor education, and few resources of quality information, and the same thing would happen.