R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I agree with Tariq Ramadan’s belief that it is completely possible for the West and Islam to coexist if we do attempt to solve the conflict rationally. In his article, “At the crossroad of Islam, West,” Ramadan argues that both sides, Islam and the West, are failing to approach this conflict reasonably. He sees the need for both sides to cut each other some slack and attempt to view the conflict from the other’s perspective. In regards to the comic that Danish Muslims found to be offensive, Ramadan feels that the newspaper should have been sensitive to Islam’s tenant of never depicting God or a prophet. Yet, the Muslims should not express their anger too vehemently because Western culture finds it acceptable to criticize their own religious icons, thus not realizing the offensiveness of the comic. He preaches trying to understand both sides of the conflict; that “learning to keep an intellectual critical distance” is important to keeping the conflict from ending horribly (155). In conjunction with the rationality advocated by Ramadan is the idea of respect. If we are to be considerate of each other’s beliefs, we are essentially respecting each other’s back grounds. As he wrote, “the Muslim citizens are not asking for more censorship but for more respect” (156). I agree with Tariq Ramadan’s argument. We need to have more tolerance for people who are different than ourselves in all aspects, not only those with religious differences. At the end of the day, we should respect each other, despite our differences, because we all share a common humanity. Humans are not only linked biologically, but also linked in our ability to rationalize, our higher intellect, and our emotions. We should then treat everyone as people that are really not so different, even when we do not share our beliefs. I feel that in this situation communication, compromise and keeping an open mind are essential to ending this conflict without some form of war. War would not solve this issue; rather, it would create a world in which a set of beliefs is suppressed by the victor, creating more animosity between the religions. As Ramadan said, “the worst can be possible between two universities of reference when they become deaf to each other and are seduced by defining themselves against the other” (156). Rationality and respect are the keys to concluding this conflict, if only both sides are willing to stop and compromise.