When I lie me down to sleep, I don’t pray the Lord my soul to keep. I usually offer up platitudes.
‘Oops, sorry ’bout that last indiscretion Big Guy.?
And, ‘Thanks for a wonderful life.?
Without fail, I put in plugs for my wife and kids — you know, the usual — health and happiness to family, friends, ‘and even thems I don’t particularly like at the moment.?
Until recently, I used to end with a wish for world peace. Nowadays, when I slip and pray, ‘that you will bring peace to the earth,? I find myself to be an Indian-giver. (If you haven’t heard, kids, the term ‘Indian-giver? used to mean somebody who gives something only to take it back. It was very politically incorrect, so it has been stricken from our modern vocabulary.) To rectify the slippage of my thoughts, I’ll add something like ‘Lord, can you ignore that last request? This is Rush, signing out. Amen,? to the end of my prayer.
See, I don’t want to tempt the Big Kahuna in the sky into actually listening to me. That Being — whatever or whomever he (or she) is cannot be too hip on the course of human events these days. I’d hate to remind the Ominipresent One there is the day of reckoning option at his/her disposal. That’s the option which ultimately brings peace to the land, but unfortunately, it’s done by squashing, vaporizing or turning humanity into pillars of salt.
Hmm, maybe that’s why Iran is getting nuclear weapons?
At any rate, I don’t want to be blamed for all that death and destruction, so I have bowed out of the asking for peace process. Which leads me to . . .
Is the rest of the world, Europe and the Middle East in particular, imploding on itself? In the name of everything that is holy and scared, what in the Hades is going on over there? I cannot for a moment pretend to understand how one cartoonist, in one newspaper, from one small European nation can cause such a fracas as the one from Denmark has.
Did you know the ‘offending? cartoon which appeared in the Jylland-Posten newspaper was actually first published in September — not a few weeks ago? That’s almost a half smackin? frackin? year of ancient history ago! Why are there still thousands of people gathering at Danish embassies around the globe, throwing rocks, burning things and generally being nuisances five months after the infidel’s ink drawing was published? Don’t they have jobs or families to tend to? Why are they just now bring down a Holy War on cartoonists — they’re a little late. And, those who want the streets to run red with Western blood, have they actually seen the cartoon?
I’ve read the problem is folks ain’t sposed to draw Muhammad for fear it will lead to idolatry of said rendering. Call me kooky, but I am here to tell you not too many Danes are going to idolize a cartoon of a bearded man with a bomb in his turban. Come to think of it, I doubt not to many Islamics, no matter how whacked-out they are, would idolize the drawing either.
But still . . .
Radical, militant Islamics have put a bounty squarely on the cartoonist’s head for having the audacity of drawing a cartoon with Muhammad. They see no problem with depicting other religions/beliefs in derogatory ways. Video taping and showing the beheading of other humans on TV, no problemo, dude. Dittto, to sending sons and daughters to blow themselves up while standing next to innocent bystanders. Militants have incited these riots over a lousy cartoon — and they want the world to take them seriously?
Seriously, I thought you weren’t ‘sposed to shoot the messanger. It’s a good thing folks like myself (read: thinking individuals able to contrive and express opinions no matter how terrible or wrong) work in between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans or there would be lots of dead opinions.
If you have yet to see the cartoon (and chances are you haven’t cuz the American press is too scared) go to www.cagle.com
This is political cartoonist Daryl Cagle’s website. Plenty of good political cartoons from many different artists.
Comments for Infidel Rush can be e-mailed to: dontrushmedon@charter.net