Depiction of Sacred Religious Figures In Art & Media

The murders committed by Islamic Fascist Terrorists in Paris, France supposedly occurred because a left wing magazine depicted Mohammad in a cartoon in a negative way.  Muslims have objected to any depiction of Mohammad because they, like Jews, adhere to the Second Commandant, in the Ten Commandants, prohibition against graven images.  In fact, generally you will see no depictions of religious figures and certainly not God, or Allah in a Jewish Temple, or Muslim Mosque.  Instead, these religious buildings are usually decorated with elaborate geometric shapes, mosaics etc; but never with any pictures, or art depicting people, God or the Prophets. 

Matter of fact, when Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments from God, he asked God who he was and to reveal himself.  To which God responded all you need to know is that "I am".  Even early Christianity, that emanated from Judaism, dealt with this issue; though in Christianity, there has been depiction of religious figures, including Jesus, from very early times.  It took edicts by various Popes to allow the religious art we see today in many church frescoes, paintings etc.  And, aren't we lucky because some of the most beautiful art and master pieces every produced in human history portray scenes from the Bible, including depictions of God, Jesus, the prophets and the saints. 

In any case, while it can never justify the Terrorist murders that have taken place in the name of Allah, or be the basis for revenge for depictions of Mohammad by the left wing media, it is important for all people to understand the religious justification and or positioning for Islamic disapproval of these cartoons that are irreverent.   Jesus too has often been depicted irreverently by these same atheist cartoonists and the left wing media.  Of course it is offensive; but again these irreverent cartoons, or depictions cannot be used as an excuse for murder.  Let us hope that all moderate Muslims speak up to condemn these murders, while at the same time condemning these ugly depictions as the right way to deal with this issue. without calling the death of the artists or author.   

Sadly, the freedom of speech that we all covet is not always to our liking; but to maintain our freedom of speech, we must protect all freedom of speech no matter how odious.