A Muslim group called the Ramadhan Foundation has condemned a cartoon in the Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda that they say depicts Mohammed as a dog. The foundation’s spokesman, Mohammed Shafiq, stated, “The Ramadhan Foundation is deeply hurt that these images were drawn and then published in such a way.” What way of being drawn and published does the Ramadhan Foundation specifically is the Ramadhan Foundation deeply hurt by? Well, they don’t know exactly. You see, no one from the Ramadhan Foundation has actually seen the cartoon that they are deeply hurt by and are thus condemning.

In fact, the Ramadhan Foundation is condemning a group of Muslims in Sweden who say that they are going to look at the cartoon themselves before judging it. The foundation declared, “We attack SEMUS [Secular Muslims of Sweden] for even suggesting that they need to look at these pictures before reaching a decision.”

This is the kind of nonsense that uncritical obedience to ancient religious laws leads to: Faith-based condemnation. It seems that many Muslims believe that they don’t actually need to see something to know that they are offended by it.

Well, if that’s the case, then I suppose I should let the Muslim world know that I have drawn and published a cartoon that depicts the head of Mohammed on the body of a parrot. I’m not going to republish the cartoon here, for all you Muslims to see, but then again, you don’t need to see it in order to be outraged at it, after all. Just having me tell you that such a drawing of Mohammed as a pet bird exists is enough for you to throw a tantrum, right?