[lit-ideas] Something of Your Own
- From: Teemu Pyyluoma <teme17@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 15:36:21 -0800 (PST)
Read a wonderful column on the cartoons controversy by
Jaakko Heinimäki, a theologian, philosopher and
writer, and though that I'd do a quick translation.
The part about religion and humor is good, as is the
point about us having a very secular notion of
property.
Something of Your Own
The inventor of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud,
supposedly said that the man who first threw an insult
instead of a rock, invented civilization.
Unfortunately it doesn't seem that we have learned to
replace rocks, bombs, bullets and other destructive
items with the pen. Rocks fly among insults.
The purpose of the cartoons published by the Danish
newspaper was to insult Muslims. For some reason
Jyllands-Posten saw it necessary to order cartoong of
the prophet, despite the fact that Islam considers
mere pictures of Mohammed insulting, and pictures that
mock much more so.
Fanatic have replied to slander with slander: Danish
flags have been torched all over the world. But it
hasn't stayed at the level of insults, human life is
worth little when fundamentalists get all fired up for
being called violent.
Most of the world's Muslim population is peace loving,
and are doubly tormented by the controversy: The
unthinking schoolboy humor insults more due to its
rudeness, than due to the pictures as such. On the
other hand, the image of Islam is once more
increasingly violent, thanks to a small group of
fanatics.
Irony and satire seem to belong to the Danish mental
landscape. Great 19th century Danish philosopher Soren
Kierkegaard did his doctoral dissertation on Socrates'
irony. He also argued that of all approaches to life,
it is humor that is closest to religion. To him humor
was religion in disguise. But Kierkegaard made a sharp
dichotomy between irony and humor.
The Ironist regards the tragedies of life as
insignificant, nothing matters to him and he feels no
responsibility for anything, he just laughs bitterly.
The Humorist on the other hand looks suffering
straight into eye, and his smile doesn't fade despite
the suffering. A good Humorist sees the tragic and the
comic as inter vined.
Religion that doesn't keep humor as its sister turns
into fanaticism, as we have once again seen. On the
other hand, without the religious depth as a sister,
humor turns into heartless and cynical scorn, which we
have also seen. On these bases, I am willing to back
the Danish Philosopher on the kinship between humor
and religion.
For us secular moderately social democratic - Lutheran
- manic depressive Finns, understanding the Muslim
anger is difficult, for we have nothing so sacred,
that we would collectively get all upset about it.
If our tolerance is to be tested, the critical points
would not be our commitments. Our tolerance should be
measured by violating property, which we deem sacred.
Our laws seem to protect property better than man.
On the other hand, it is about property in Islamic
tradition. Perhaps the cartoons feel so insulting to
Muslims because the Danish with no care what so ever
touch upon that is own the Muslims. Have we secular
Westerns lost the sense that property can be something
else than worldly and material?
My comment: It is written for a popular daily, so I'll
ignore the few populism. The issue of believes coming
under test, things people take for granted, as
cultures meet is a thorny one. As a wise lady once put
it, internationalism isn't _nice_. I don't have much
else to say on it at the moment, and I doubt there are
easy answers here. Humor, the kind that acts against
the pompousness, however certainly helps.
Cheers,
Teemu
Helsinki, Finland
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