Happy Everybody Draw Mohammad Day?

If you've been relegated to ignore current events, you would be unaware that May 20, 2010 is "Everybody Draw Mohammad Day." The event was accidentally created about a month ago when a cartoonist drew a satirical drawing (left photo) which went viral. Later that fateful day, a Facebook group appeared and users hoping to defend the Freedom of Speech joined.

What started off as a campaign to support the South Park writers has become a controversial religious debate. Clear divisions exist - On one side of the argument, the Freedom of Speech and that a joke on a religion is fair game. On the other side, Muslims who are offended by the depiction of their god and that it is disrespectful to their religion.

What's funny is that the original cartoon contains no real images of Mohammad. In fact, not even a real image of a human being of Muslim characteristics exists. If one were to follow the intent of this "event," they would realize that they are to draw pictures of things other than Mohammad.

In the South Park episode "200" that sparked this whole ordeal, Mohammad was never actually drawn, and the anger that followed seemed unjustified, especially when a week later, it turned out the man in the bear suit was Santa Claus. It is also ironic that the show poked fun at the usual reactions of the Muslim extremes of violence, only to have it come to fruition less than 24 hours later, proving their point.

The rage that has followed is inconsistent because South Park has drawn Mohammad in a 2001 episode, albeit a pre-9/11 world, and no anger ensued.

In a very intelligent skit on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" aired April 22, 2010, Stewart discussed his disgust with those who have threatened the writers of South Park with harm and death. He commented that the Americans and Western societies value the Freedoms of Expression so much, that even the threats of death from "Revolution Muslim" living in America are protected. Later, Aasif Mandvi, Muslim correspondent, remarked that he would be upset on a drawing, but is more upset that those who claim to speak on behalf of the Muslim world are threatening harm to another man, all in the name of Mohammad.

Today, many countries in the Middle East have banned Facebook as well as YouTube, Yahoo! and a plethora of websites. Although some websites are not sure as to why they are on the black list, the government claims it is to protect their religious rights.