https://lemmy.world/post/18442816

  • FlakesBongler [they/them]
    ·
    5 months ago

    Christianity does not have a tenet forbidding the depiction of religious figure, well, besides the no graven images thing

    Which, I don't think anyone actually pays close attention to anyway

    • KobaCumTribute [she/her]
      ·
      5 months ago

      Isn't that the same tenet, it's just interpreted differently? That is Christians historically treating it as idols dedicated to other deities, with inconsistent although not completely absent application to Christian figures (like IIRC one Protestant grievance against Catholics had to do with their use of idols, particularly idols of saints).

      It also has to be said that Islam is not unique nor monolithic in terms of how rigidly its followers adhere to its tenets nor even what those tenets are assumed to mean, and historically Muslim depictions of Muhammad in religious art did happen and were accepted in some places and at some times. The modern extremeness of the issue is a combination of the unusually hardline and extreme interpretation pushed by Saudi Arabia - which US intelligence has helped it export globally because salafist militants both tend to do the sort of reactionary violence that furthers American interests and have provided a casual pretext for the US to roll in and start occupying whomever it pleases whenever it pleases - and the fact that it's basically just a racist airhorn used by blowhards who want to say "I hate you and hold you in complete contempt, so I'm publicly thumbing my nose at you and daring you to try something" in a way that invites retaliation from aggrieved and impulsive young men who already feel disaffected and targeted by racism.

      • WorkingClassCorpse [comrade/them, any]
        hexagon
        ·
        5 months ago

        This is the full picture, thank you for elaborating

        It's important to note that while Christians largely interpret the iconoclasm differently, they do still have hard and fast rules that clash with contemporary culture, and are cited by extremists as justification for acts of terror and murder. The fact that those extremists are largely seen as aberrations while Muslim extremists are seen as inherent to the faith is the result of islamophobic bigotry

        • heggs_bayer
          ·
          5 months ago

          This is only tangentially related, but now I'm imagining a bunch of America first chuds assaulting people who wear American flag print clothing bacause it's a flag code violation.

      • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
        ·
        5 months ago

        I'm pretty sure you can find historical examples of paintings of Muhammad online like right now. There's also plenty that just hide his face behind a ball of light surrounded by his companions who all look the same so it's fair to guess what the artist would have put there if not for the iconoclasm.

        • Belly_Beanis [he/him]
          ·
          5 months ago

          A lot of the paintings are really cool. There's been debate and speculation among art historians about Islamic art influencing the Renaissance. Different painting techniques could have originated in the Middle East before getting exported back to Europe during the Crusades.

          One piece of evidence for this is with etching. The etching of metal was first used by Arabs to mark their equipment so if they died, their stuff could be taken back to their families. Europeans learned of this technique and applied it to metal plates. Copper is much more durable than woodblocks and you can make more copies before the master gets damaged or destroyed. This led to more effective printing because crews could work faster not worrying about damaging their tools.

          • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
            ·
            5 months ago

            Damn that is so cool. The cultural and technological exchange part of history is always the most fascinating part.

      • FlakesBongler [they/them]
        ·
        5 months ago

        Thank you for going into detail on this

        I was just speaking as a guy who paid close attention in Sunday school and has an interest in destroying Mormonism

        Fuckin' White Pharoah

        • FunkyStuff [he/him]
          ·
          5 months ago

          Just to add to what she said, Eastern Orthodox Christians have an interesting rule where they allow flat icons only. Statues are prohibited because they're too close to the real form of the objects they represent. They also tend to take on a more abstract style with their icons, while Catholic icons have a more realistic style that I believe later influenced romanticism.

      • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml
        ·
        edit-2
        5 months ago

        Isn’t that the same tenet, it’s just interpreted differently?

        It's the same, but christianity abandoned it entirely because without pictures, figures etc it would not be much attractive for potential pagan converts. Some orthodox tried to return to it later, but failed and were declared heretics (look iconoclasm). To be fair a lot of muslims also don't give a shit, some denominations officially, some not.

    • regul [any]
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      Not even all Muslims do.

      The Christians had a big fight about it as well. It's pretty obvious who won.

      • FlakesBongler [they/them]
        ·
        5 months ago

        Yep, the Mormons

        Though they did have the advantage of the magic submarine Jesus used to come to the Americas

    • Please_Do_Not@lemm.ee
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      Yeah my question isn't why is an image of him offensive. Since they've actually made the choice not to break that tenet in this meme, my question is why is it more offensive to reference Mohammed in the second panel than it is to actually have a picture of Jesus in the first image. Seems like an equal critique of both Christianity and Islam, so I don't know why one is worse, but all the comments are just about the rule barring images of Mohammed.

      • WorkingClassCorpse [comrade/them, any]
        hexagon
        ·
        5 months ago

        his fanatical followers will literally murder you for showing a picture

        Christians are being called 'annoying', Muslims are being called 'fanatical murderers'. In what way is that an "equal critique"?

        • Please_Do_Not@lemm.ee
          ·
          5 months ago

          Yeah that feels obvious now lol. For whatever reason I was focused only on the caption of the first meme and just saw the second as racking on one more group rather than reading into the caption. But I read the word "fanatical" as identifying a group within the group rather than describing the whole. Like "an average Muslim won't kill you for it, but the fanatical ones will." Maybe wishful interpretation.