Prophet And Man At Yale

William F. Buckley didn't stay with us long enough to write the sequel to God And Man At Yale. So the Yale University Press is doing it for him. The university publishers are releasing a book about the Mohammed cartoons entitled The Cartoons That Shook The World. The only catch is that they aren't printing the cartoons themselves.

In its long history of the pursuit of a free press, Yale University has boldly taken on the topic of how the religion of peace handles any deviation from Muslim doctrine. Not peacefully. Yale has fearlessly taken on the violation of Islamic sensibilities which sparked fires and riots and an occasional murder worldwide. Depiction of any living thing, particularly the prophet Mohammed, is strictly forbidden. And those cartoons published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten not only pictured Mohammed, but also pictured him in rather, shall we say, unflattering ways.

So why is Yale being so fearless? Well, if you don't print any of the cartoons, you haven't violated the rule, and the Muslim Students Association won't burn down your publishing office along with the adjacent city of New Haven, Connecticut. As a side note, I should add that after the reversal of Sonia Sotomayor's decision in the "Ricci" case, New Haven at least has an effective fire department to put out the fires. Just the idea that the university would even consider printing the cartoons is enough to trigger the outrage of many Islamic peace warriors.

Now if you remember your childhood lessons, you know that a picture is worth a thousand words. The book is very lengthy, because without the cartoons to look at, the university has to print a thousand words to describe each of them. Hoping that the jihadis will get bored with all the words and forget about beheading the publisher, Yale has served both the interests of peace and the incomes of paper and ink manufacturers.

So, in a book about cartoons, there are no cartoons. Only a great university could pull that one off. John Donatich, the director of Yale University Press told the New York Times that "the decision not to include the cartoons was difficult. Yeah, I can imagine the ivy-surrounded conference room right now. "We are going to do a book on the Mohammed Cartoons." "All right, which ones are we going to print?" "Well, none." "What kind of cartoon book doesn't have any cartoons?" "It's not a cartoon book, it's a book about cartoons." "With no illustrations?" "No illustrations." "Ah, very Zen. Now I understand."

For a school whose motto is "Light and Truth," there seems to be very little of either. The university attempted to explain why they excluded the cartoons. They said that they consulted many experts in theology, diplomacy, and counter-terrorism, and they agreed unanimously to recommend that the cartoons not be printed. They also added that the cartoons had been printed so universally previously that to do so again would be redundant. I might have had some respect for their omission if they had simply told the truth and admitted that they were afraid that if they printed the cartoons, their ivory tower would likely go up in flames. Fear is a great motivator for liberals and university academics. But it takes a real man to admit he's scared spitless.

Surprisingly, the American Association of University Professors issued a statement condemning Yale for its cowardice. The AAUP statement said: "We are committed to academic freedom. We do not negotiate with terrorists." They were particularly appalled by Yale's excuse that they were warned that publication of the cartoons had brought on violence in the past. The Association was also distressed by Yale's attempt to shift the blame for the cowardice to "experts."

PJM quoted British comedian Pat Condell as asking: "How much more of your freedom needs to be whittled away to defend this intolerant, misogynistic, homophobic, antisemitic ideology from the frank and robust and open criticism it so richly deserves?" Yale's answer is: "A whole bunch more."

Note: In order to avoid having our luxurious offices torched, I have printed the Gustave Dore painting of Mohammed in Hell with Dante looking down on the condemned souls. Since Mohammed, like all the others in the Inferno, is pictured naked, I figured no jihadists would come after us since they can't imagine that Mohammed was ever naked, and therefore would not recognize him.