Islam Expert Not Shocked by Disappearance of ‘Draw Muhammad’ Cartoonist

By Michelle A. Vu

9/21/2010 Islam (Christian Post) – A Christian expert on Islam is not surprised that the Seattle cartoonist behind “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day!” was threatened by extremists and forced into hiding.

In fact, Dr. William Wagner, author of “How Islam Plans to Change the World,” says intimidation is one of radical Islam’s most effective tools.

 “They (radical Muslims) are constantly looking for persons who seem to go against Islam and then threaten them,” says Wagner, a long-time Southern Baptist who currently serves as president of Olivet University in San Francisco.

Extremists used the same tactic to keep newspapers from republishing the Danish cartoons in 2006 and to force Comedy Central into censoring a “South Park” episode with the Muslim prophet Muhammad earlier this year.

“These threats will continue not because of an increased number of those opposing Islam but because they have discovered that it is a good method to put the opposition on their heels and at the same time to give more media attention to their goals,” says Wagner.

Last Wednesday, Seattle Weekly editor-in-chief Mark Fefer announced in the paper that cartoonist Molly Norris was in hiding because of death threats received for mocking the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Based on the advice of the FBI, Norris will relocate, change her name and no longer appear in the paper, Fefer wrote.

“You may have noticed that Molly Norris’ comic is not in the paper this week. That’s because there is no more Molly,” he explained. “She is, in effect, being put into a witness-protection program – except, as she notes, without the government picking up the tab.”

A cleric in Yemen associated with al-Qaeda, Anwar Al-Awlaki, had issued a fatwa (religious ruling) against Norris that appeared in the July issue of an al-Qaeda-linked magazine. For most Muslims, it is blasphemous to depict their prophet.

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“Since radical Muslims have discovered that such publicity works for their advantage, they are using this effectively worldwide to get their way in both large and small incidents,” he adds.

In 2006, a series of Danish cartoons depicting Muhammad caused protests and riots throughout the world, particularly in cities with large Muslim population. One of the 12 cartoons originally published in the Jullands-Posten in 2005 depicted the Muslim prophet wearing a bomb as a turban with a lit fuse.

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Dozens of people died as a result of Muhammad cartoon protests, including those in Nigeria, Libya and Pakistan. Churches in Lebanon and Nigeria were also attacked during the riots.

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