I think it is safe to say that the publication of the Mohammad drawings in a danish newspaper resulted in an "unholy mess"...?

When Randi showed me that she had started a thread on this subject, I could not believe it! I thought it was very much unlike her to bring up a subject this controversial... and I was almost afraid to read it!

Now I'm glad that I did, because it made me feel a lot less alone, seeing that your thoughts resemble mine. When I began to read the thread, I thought that I - as a dane - would have a lot of explaining to do, but I can see that there is no need for that. I also enjoyed reading the fine newspaper articles posted by Lizbud and Poofy.

I have seen the drawings on TV only. The "Jyllands Posten" is not a big newspaper in DK, and so I (and most other danes) wouldn't have known anything about them - had the muslims not reacted so strongly.

In the beginning all I felt was total astonishment and disbelief: How on earth could anyone be so mad about a measly drawing in a paper, when there are so many terrible things going on in the world? As things developed, the absurdity of it all made me giggle even if the crisis and the wrath of the muslims should be taken very seriously and is nothing to giggle about. But during the first days of the crisis it was all so completely surreal to me, and I had to struggle to really get it into my system, that this was actually happening. I remember thinking that if I didn't get a grip soon, I should probably still be laughing when a bomb landed on my head.

After that first reaction followed some days of fear. I didn't sleep very well at night. Not so much for the fear of incomprehensible bombs but because of the fear of being misunderstood and harmed as a result of the stupid misunderstanding, that our Prime Minister didn't want to apologize for the drawings, when the truth is that he has no jurisdiction over the danish newspapers and therefore cannot decide what they may or may not publish. It really made me uneasy that the angry communities seemed unable to understand this separation between government and the media. As for possible terrorist retaliation on danish soil, all I can do is hope that I'm somewhere else than the bomb on that particular day.

I think it was allright for the editor to apologize, though. As long as he only apologizes for the sorrow and hurt he has caused, just as I would apologize to a friend if I inadvertedly overstepped her boundaries and made her sad or cross with me.

I would absolutely hate it, if Anders Fogh ever apologizes on behalf of the nation for bringing the drawings! That would be apologizing for us being danes! It would be apologizing for the fact that we are brought up in another culture and with other traditions. Before I began writing this I looked up the word "satire" in my dictionary - I wasn't sure that the concept existed in english (sorry!) - but I see that it does. In my view satire means a great deal to us. We use it a lot. We soften harsh truths with it, and we use it to make problems easier to live with. The concept is part of what is is to be danish. At least that is what I think. Where I come from, its ok to make jokes of almost everything - the only exception being jokes about the disabled. That, luckily, is still a taboo.

In general, I guess, danes are an "unholy bunch!" I guess as a people we are more practical than spiritual, and we prefer a good laugh over a prayer any day (sorry, no offense intended! Is only explanatory). Personally, I do recognize the enormeous strength you can gather from having a belief, all I am saying is that believing in any power higher than the country's prime minister is not an easy task for a dane. If anything, we should be pitied rather than persecuted for not having that ability, and for being unable to understand people that do!

Well, that's just what I think... and I shall always strive to keep in mind, that your opinion is just as good as mine!

And now I forgot the smilies again..!

Lots of love,
Sus and Bella