Antone's Nightclub
Comparative Religion 101
RECEIVED Thu., Feb. 23, 2006
Dear Editor,
I have been reading with interest the letters to the Chronicle concerning the recent cover that pictured a Bible coming between a woman and her gyn [“The New Texas Planning,” News, Jan. 27]. Or at least that was my interpretation. Many letters have expressed outrage and indignation about this image; there have been threats to withdraw support from your newspaper. Some readers feel that their religion has been offended; others that their womanhood has; still others that their children have been harmed.
I find all this fascinating against the backdrop of everyone's incredulity over some Muslim's response to the Danish cartoons. Many Muslims have taken offense at the cartoons. Many in Austin have taken offense at your cover. Granted I didn't see any letters threatening death to Chronicle staff, and I assume the Chronicle offices have not been set on fire. But isn't it interesting that though the reaction is much milder, we respond to perceived threats to our religion/beliefs in the same way that many Muslims have: We take offense; we make threats. Perhaps we are not so different after all. And perhaps if the population of Austin was as desperate, hungry, scared, and under attack as many Muslims in Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, etc. must feel, reactions here might have tended more toward the violent as well. Just something to think about.
I have been reading with interest the letters to the Chronicle concerning the recent cover that pictured a Bible coming between a woman and her gyn [“The New Texas Planning,” News, Jan. 27]. Or at least that was my interpretation. Many letters have expressed outrage and indignation about this image; there have been threats to withdraw support from your newspaper. Some readers feel that their religion has been offended; others that their womanhood has; still others that their children have been harmed.
I find all this fascinating against the backdrop of everyone's incredulity over some Muslim's response to the Danish cartoons. Many Muslims have taken offense at the cartoons. Many in Austin have taken offense at your cover. Granted I didn't see any letters threatening death to Chronicle staff, and I assume the Chronicle offices have not been set on fire. But isn't it interesting that though the reaction is much milder, we respond to perceived threats to our religion/beliefs in the same way that many Muslims have: We take offense; we make threats. Perhaps we are not so different after all. And perhaps if the population of Austin was as desperate, hungry, scared, and under attack as many Muslims in Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, etc. must feel, reactions here might have tended more toward the violent as well. Just something to think about.
Best,
Annie Hartnett
Annie Hartnett