Cartoons, Danish, and Angry Mobs

Atlas Shrugs some blogger who I have never read before, (and who is a total babe) has a whole bunch of stuff on the controversy.

She points out the obvious double standard, that Arabic newspapers print some ferociously anti-semitic cartoons.

The cartoons are disrespectful, no doubt about it, and maybe they reflect modern Western societies disconnection from religion in general. Print an equivalent image of Christ in Denmark or France, and no one would have noticed, most of us in the West are desensitized to it.
Doesn't help that Western European governments also are perceived as going out of their ways to be (selectively) accomodating to groups such as Muslims and their beliefs - note the whole row over a Brit city council forbidding pig images at work. Ultimately, this enforced tolerance has more to do with reaching accomodations with different cultures, based almost exclusively on their customs and behavior, as if they were not based on deeply held beliefs in a higher power.
The problem is when you get to certain countries where immigrants are pretty much denied the right to become part of the nation vis a vis citizenship, like France or Germany. These mixed messages and marginalization make for a potent cocktail and create resentment.
This also being the year 2006, thoughts and moods are instaneously transmitted back from immigrants to friends and family. A rumor in Brussels gets transmitted to Cairo and vice-versa, with appropriate embellishments in an IM or cell call in a matter of minutes. This cycle just adds fuel to the fire.