Andrushka

On Tuesdays I wear t-shirts. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I must work and therefore feel the need pull out my teacherly identity-kit; but on my days off, I still wear t-shirts. I like wearing red t-shirts. I have my CCCP “red” shirt, a Union College red shirt, a Project Impact red shirt, a Nebraska Cornhuskers red shirt, and a few others. Each makes a definite statement about who I am and where my loyalties lie. Clothes are always entwined in identity. Rarely do I have to think twice about which red shirt to wear. The only normal limitation is that I don’t wear the Huskers shirt when I know I’ll be at UNL because it’s just so conformist to wear it on campus. Today, being associated with hearts and other bloody matters, I wanted to wear red. Since I wasn’t planning on visiting UNL, my options were wide open. I grabbed something red, and as I was putting it on, I realized I had a new factor to take into account when choosing a red shirt. It was my Danmark shirt. Back in 2000, I’d taken the ferry from Świnoujście, Poland, to Copenhagen, Denmark. It was a lovely ride and a lovely city. With the exception of the rather obtuse fellows at passport control, I found the place quite homey. The people were friendly and well kempt, the city was beautiful in the expected Scandinavian ways, but had a bit of flamboyance too. The museums even went out of their way to be fun and informative. It seemed like everyone rode bikes and hardly anyone felt the need to lock them. There was one rather stunning thing. The people had an odd habit regarding rubbish bins. I saw many people—young, old, well-dressed, or a bit on the tawdry side—opening the lids on garbage cans and dumpsters and taking a looksy. It’s not something you expect in America, at least not from well-dressed people, but on the other hand, if you and I didn’t feel any social restraint, how many of us wouldn’t look in the garbage out of curiosity? As the saying goes, “One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.” All in all, I was impressed by the place. It was one of the few cities in which I felt more at home than I do when I’m actually at home. There are some places like that; they almost make you believe in reincarnation. And to express my love for the country, I bought a t-shirt, red with a white cross, just like the flag and printed across the font, the word, “Danmark.” Back in 2003, when Denmark declared war on Iraq, I was a bit disappointed. I mean, it was the first time they had declared war since 1864 (I think). Even in World War II, while occupied and fighting the Germans, they were officially neutral. At least they had the decency to declare war before invading though, the US can’t seem to be bothered anymore (our most recent declaration of war was against Romania in 1942). And then I heard about a group of 24 Danes suing their Anders Fogh Rasmussen (the Danish PM) for misleading their country into war and that restored my faith in the Danish people, if not their government. That brings my relationship with Denmark to the present. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the ongoing hullabaloo around the world regarding some satirical caricatures published by the Jyllands-Posten. There have been demonstrations and riots around the world. Embassies have been burnt. Denmark may face a recession if the boycott on Danish goods continues; they've already had people lose jobs as a direct result of the boycott. Nestle and other European companies have started advertising their lack of Danish connections. In South Africa, a newspaper decided to publish the cartoons and the editor, a Muslim woman, has received a backlash from her own family. It has also been reported that the cartoons circulating in many Islamic countries are not even the same cartoons that the Jyllands-Posten originally printed. (This also makes one question who they should be protesting. Shouldn’t the demonstrations target the Imams and other leaders who circulated such images to achieve their own aims?) The problem, it seems, is quite complicated. For one, Sunni Hadith (Islamic tradition) forbids any depictions of, well, pretty much anything. That’s why Sunni art tends to be abstract, decorative, or calligraphic. That hasn’t stopped images from becoming a regular part of most Muslim’s lives, but in regards to Allah (Praise be unto Him) or the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), they usually observe the ban. However, Shi’ite and Sufi Muslims have, on occasion, created depictions of Allah (PBUH) and Muhammad (PBUH). So, the real issue isn't so much the publications of depictions as the widespread belief that all Arabs and all Muslims are terrorists, which the caricatures reinforced. The protestors often identify the source of their anger as really being the secularism of the west and not the images. I'm sure there are plenty of little things that added up to this. Of course, we in the Occident value freedom of expression (praise be unto it) as highly as the protestors value their prophet (PBUH). And in this case, the Muslim's greatest ally in the west, the Liberals and Radicals, are the greatest supporters of what has offended them. To most of us (and I locate myself as a politically liberal Westerner here), these protests are incomprehensible and destructive. Seeing the flag of a "mostly harmless" sort of nation like Denmark being burnt hurts much more than seeing my own national symbols destroyed. My gut reaction is to join the nationalists/fascists in our country in supporting the continued culture war. That's how much I love freedom of expression (pbui). I will of course refrain from any such rash action. Reactionary thinking is what leads to these situations in which both sides operate on the theory that two wrongs make a right. They don't. And the eye for an eye stuff will make us all blind (thank you Gandhi). Because the two sides have different assumptions from which they build their arguments, they will never arrive at a mutually acceptable conclusion. The war between the West and the Muslim world has been described as World War IV and I'm starting to believe it. Competing ideologies have grown to the point where they turn to violence and intimations there of to achieve dominance. I, of course, object to all wars, even cold ones (which this is not). Let me illustrate the sort of differences in assumptions. The Jyllands-Posten has already apologized; the protestors want the national government to apologize. The government had nothing to do with the publication. But in much of the world, it's assumed that anything that gets printed is the government’s opinion. This reveals the protestors have no concept of what the freedom of expression (pbui) the Westerners say they are defending really is. Meanwhile, a French paper printed the cartoons along side a number of caricatures lampooning other religions to make the point that they are not treating Islam differently than any other religion. The Muslim response to this has been that they believe in showing respect for all prophets and gods, not just their own. Of course, there is some debate over this. But this reveals a the West’s inability to revere the sacred. The West's case is complicated by our self-imposed limits on free expression (pbui). For example, we don't print pictures of dead soldiers anymore, I guess to show our "support for the troops." Likewise, we don't show bin Laden's videos on our TV, in case we help the "terrorists." If we've already arrived at certain conventions to limit that freedom, why not add one more that's important to such a large population? As much a believer as I am in free expression (pbui), I limit my own all the time. When I was writing for Around the Clock News, I knew there were things about Union College and its students that I wouldn't publish. But if someone wrote them in another forum, I'd still support their right to do so. In front of a class, I might not say everything I want because I know I'm representing more than just myself—a college, an academic field, and a religious group. When I lived in Poland and Ukraine, I was always cognizant of creating a representation of America and protestants. On several occasions, people told me that I had changed their opinion of America. I’m not representative, but that doesn’t matter to others. We are never just ourselves . . . which brings me back to my choice of shirts. Who would I be associated with, in my Danmark shirt? Why, the British National Party (BNP) for one. They are the national anti-Socialist party of modern Britain, quite similar to our own right wing Republicans actually. Their website is selling a pro-Denmark shirt. I might also be in the company of Italy's Northern League Party. I don't particularly like either of them, and a quick survey of the links that come up when I search for "support Denmark" doesn't really encourage me to wear the shirt either. I’ve always had a hard time with my German identity. Even Johnnes Rau said it's hard to be proud to be German. When Ted bought me a shirt celebrating our German heritage long ago, I usually avoided wearing it in public. Increasingly it's also hard to take pride in American citizenship. That's one reason I always tell people I'm from Nebraska and let them wonder which country that's in. I never thought that my Danish heritage would become an equally avoidable subject. I really do side with Denmark on this one. Not the newspaper, but with the State. The law shouldn’t change. If anything, we need laws regarding freedom of expression (pbui) relaxed. But we need to also show voluntary respect and a sense of good taste. Even taking the side of the Danish state, I decided not to wear the shirt. I may support them, but I don’t want to be associated with their supporters and I don’t want to alienate anyone with a different opinion. So, I think for now, I will pray for a peaceful resolution and wear my Soviet shirt. It's red and much less controversial. P.S. Here's a fun little clip from a recent episode of Hyperdrive. The Danes are heading an international force to stop drug runners in space and a British captain finds that the Danes are actually helping the smugglers.

Posted by Scott on 14 February 2006 at 2/14/2006 10:04:00 PM | Permalink