Well, because Exodus 20:4-6, the Second Commandment, says:
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Belief It or Not just did an episode about it, too.
What's interesting is both how lax Christians and Jews are about it, and how severe the wording actually is. By some interpretation, any visual depiction of nearly anything is an idol. Certainly a big statue of Jesus or a fresco of God should both qualify, and yet...
23Twelve people were gunned down for publishing a cartoon of Muhammad.
A teacher was beheaded for showing a drawing of Muhammad.
Cartoonist drew Muhammad, leading to Danish embassies being attacked and riots broke out and people died. Later, people broke into his house to try to kill him.
Cartoonist had to live under police protection because of threats.
Creators of South Park were threatened for including Muhammad in an episode of the show.
Salman Rushdie was stabbed on stage
A teacher forced into hiding for showing a picture of Muhammad
I don't care if you want to claim all religions are equally capable of violence.
There is only one religion I'm deathly afraid of pissing off if I choose to criticize them publicly.
22I need explainxkcd.com, but for memes.
16Even the Far Side got in on the act
13Yeah this always struck my as bonkers. I personally like how South Park did it - with a full-body censor car. Even then the religious fanatics got salty about it.
9You could just write his name...
4And here I thought it was Jar Jar Binks.
3I dunno, that "other" group of fanatics isn't in charge of the two largest nuclear arsenals in the world, so I'd dispute them being "far more dangerous."
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