The Book of Islam

By Tom Quiner

Imagine a Broadway play that mocks Islam.

It shouldn’t be hard to imagine, should it? After all, Broadway lavished praise on the musical called the Book of Mormon by honoring it with 9 Tony Awards. In fact, it is so popular that it has a return engagement here in Des Moines starting next week.

Watch the sneering portrayal of Mormonism from the clip above from the 2012 Tony Awards.

The Book of Mormon was written by the guys behind the animated TV hit series, South Park. Their mocking take on Mormonism was wildly popular, because it is politically correct to mock a conservative religion. To their credit, the Mormon leadership took the high ground and even ran ads in the playbills around the country encouraging theater goers to “read the real book.”

I’ll be honest: I don’t get the Mormon religion. I have worked with quite a few Mormons over the years, though, and they have been incredible human beings, every one of them.

They didn’t smoke or drink.

They were great parents.

They were honest and decent.

And they didn’t try to kill me if I said something politically incorrect about their religion.

On the other hand, if ever there was a religion ripe for satire, it would be Islam, right? So I’m wondering if the wise guys behind The Book of Mormon musical are planning an Islamic sequel?

The answer is NO for two simple reasons:

1. They are cowards. They know that if they created such a musical, they would probably be murdered on the streets, and they don’t have sufficient courage of convictions to extend their free speech rights to a group that fights back, and is protected by the cult of the Politically Correct.

2. They are smart. (See above.)

As you recall, three Islamic terrorists stormed a building in Paris, France, last year that housed the headquarters of a satirical magazine called Charlie Hebdo. They gunned down a dozen people because of the magazine’s portrayal of Mohammed, shouting “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is the greatest).

As usual, American liberals were quick to defend Islam. Howard Dean put it this way:

“You know, this is a chronic problem. I stopped calling these people Muslim terrorists. They’re about as Muslim as I am. I mean, they have no respect for whatever anybody else’s life. That’s not what the Koran says. You know, Europe has an enormous radical problem. I think ISIS is a cult, not an Islamist cult. I think it’s a cult. I think you got to deal with these people.”

(I wonder what Mr. Dean would say about the video clip above if it was mocking Islam?)

Liberals will have a harder time blaming the NRA since France has stringent gun control laws. Piers Morgan sends out Tweets like this when there is a shooting in America:

“Some Americans think I’m the only ‘idiot’ alive who finds their gun laws insane. Actually, it’s most of the rest of the world.”

He was strangely silent on the subject with the Islamic terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo, since France already has the strict gun control laws liberals want imposed on the U.S.

Dr. Steve Kirby, author of “Islam According to Muhammad, Not Your Neighbor,” posted this comment on his Facebook page after last year’s massacre:

Unknown“For years this French satirical newspaper has been exercising the American belief in freedom of the press by making fun of Islam and Muhammad.

Despite receiving threats over the years for doing so, this small group of brave French journalists continued to believe in that freedom. Unfortunately, they never received any support, and virtually no recognition, from the American media.

It will be interesting to see how the American media spins this in order to keep it away from Islam, even though the gunmen were yelling “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Greatest) and Muhammad ordered the killing of, and gave approval afterwards for the killing of, men and women whose only crime was criticizing Islam and/or Muhammad.”

What does it take to convince liberals that when terrorists invoke the name of Allah as they butcher men, women, and children, they really mean it?

Perhaps they should “read the book.”

13 Comments

  1. Oliver on April 28, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    So infuriating. Fantastic point.



    • quinersdiner on April 28, 2016 at 12:18 pm

      Thanks for writing.



  2. Shawn Pavlik on April 28, 2016 at 2:05 pm

    “Read the book” – They could start here: https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/violence.aspx

    Dealing with Islam is troubling. You want to believe that it is a peaceful religion. Most of its adherents seem to be good people, but in reality, if they were following the dictates of their religion, they WOULD be killing or, at a minimum, subjugating those of other religions. Christians and Jews would be forced to pay a tax or “dhimmi” under Islamic rule. They would not have the same rights as Muslims. So those who are violent? They are actually the ones following what the book of Islam tells them to do. They are the “true Muslims”. That is disturbing but correct. Thankfully, most Muslims actually ARE decent people and ignore the parts in the Koran about violence and follow the other parts, like faith, prayer, fasting, charity, and a pilgrimage to Mecca. If they simply followed their 5 pillars of Islam, and lived peacably alongside Jews and Christians and Buddhists, etc., then the violence in the world, particularly in the ME, would soon end. Unfortunately a not-small-enough minority of Muslims choose to follow the more violent passages of the Koran. And that is what we are fighting.



    • quinersdiner on April 28, 2016 at 2:33 pm

      Well-stated, Shawn. There are Muslims who are wonderful, caring people. My wife recently encountered one (of many). Sadly, there are no shortage of others who take their scriptures literally and live it out violently.



      • quinersdiner on April 28, 2016 at 2:34 pm

        Thanks for sharing this.



  3. Shawn Pavlik on April 28, 2016 at 2:09 pm

    I believe on South Park they also demeaned the Christian faith, having a “Jesus-like” character on their show. This was what happened when they almost did the same thing with Islam:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/201_(South_Park)

    They showed a bit of gumption here, but only a bit.



  4. parrillaturi on April 28, 2016 at 2:54 pm

    You’re so spot on, with respect to the cowardice of those in the arts. They are relieved that Mormons, nor other Christians, will not resort to such heinous acts of violence, thus the brevity of such satire. Political Correctness does not apply to Christians, so, “Have a field day, they aren’t part of the equation.” Great post.



  5. bluebird of bitterness on April 28, 2016 at 8:11 pm

    I never had any desire to see “The Book of Mormon,” despite the rave reviews it got. Making fun of someone else’s beliefs is not my idea of entertainment. I’ve had my beliefs attacked and scorned and made fun of many times, and I didn’t particularly enjoy the experience — why would I want to do that to someone else?



    • quinersdiner on April 28, 2016 at 8:25 pm

      I’m with you. I have no plans to see it.



  6. RickLehman on April 29, 2016 at 6:45 am

    The billion peaceful Muslims are also the ones who are doing “nothing” to end the violence. Why?Those who aren’t against us are for us. Their silence is Killing



    • quinersdiner on April 29, 2016 at 6:54 am

      Sadly, you’re right. Moderate Muslims could have a profound impact if they were more vocal in their dissent against violent Muslims. But they’re afraid of the consequences to their personal safety.



  7. RickLehman on April 29, 2016 at 11:53 am

    Silent Muslims are the same as silent Christians on abortion.