Muslims seem increasingly intent on solidifying Islam's position as the most humorless and vociferously hostile major religion on the planet (no mean feat). Now that the smoke has cleared (literally) from the burning of the Danish Embassy and death threats leveled against Danish cartoonists, a new tempest in a teapot emerges and this time the grievance is even more stunningly inane.
From JapanTimes online comes this article:
CAIRO (Kyodo) A scene from an animated version of a popular Japanese comic book has sparked an outcry in the Muslim world, where some fear it could fuel a backlash not seen since [Danish] publications carried cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
At issue is a 90-second "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" video segment that depicts Dio Brando, a villain, picking up a Quran from a bookshelf and apparently examining it as he orders the execution of the hero and his friends.
Sheikh Abdul Hamid Attrash, chairman of the Fatwa (religious edict) Committee at Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni authority, based in Cairo, called the cartoon an "insult to Islam."
"This scene depicts Muslims as terrorists, which is not true at all," he said. "This is an insult to the religion, and the producers would be considered to be enemies of Islam."
To prove his point that Islam is in fact a peaceful religion Sheikh Attrash ordered that everyone associated with the anime be immediately put to death in as peaceful a fashion as stoning allows. (Ok, that part is extrapolated, but the "enemies of Islam" statement all but seethes with the threat of physical peril if the producers don't immediately capitulate, which of course they did. Message Sent: Terrorism works, kids.)
Responding to the accusation, the Shueisha official said it was "a simple mistake.""Neither the original comic nor the animation intends to treat Muslims as villains. But as a result, the cartoon offended Muslims," the official said. "We apologize for the unpleasantness that the cartoon may have caused and will carefully consider how to deal with religious and culture themes."
The official said one of the animators came up with the idea of using an Arabic book to give the scene a more authentic feel, as the villain was hiding out in Egypt. [seems reasonable enough, eh?]
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