{"id":829,"date":"2015-01-07T13:14:32","date_gmt":"2015-01-07T21:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/?p=829"},"modified":"2015-01-08T17:55:04","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T01:55:04","slug":"representations-of-muhammad-for-charlie-hebdo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/representations-of-muhammad-for-charlie-hebdo\/","title":{"rendered":"Representations of Muhammad [for Charlie Hebdo]"},"content":{"rendered":"

in, out, and about the box<\/em> [for Charlie Hebdo<\/a>]<\/p>\n

If a cartoonist draws Muhammad, he or she invariably will frame that drawing between four straight lines, a graphic representation of a box. Herein lies a problem: Nobody puts Muhammad in a box.<\/p>\n

The Muhammad in a Box was a toy popular in the fifties. You turned the crank and it played a tune. But Muhammad never popped out. Angry parents would take the toy to the manufacturer and complain. The manufacturer invariably told them that Muhammad does not “pop out.” Such would be unseemly.<\/p>\n

Some asked if Muhammad was really in the box. Here the manufacturer had to be clever. He said that Muhammad was, in fact, simultaneously in the box and not in the box at the same time. Possibly with, or without, a cat. \u201cIs he or isn\u2019t he?\u201d they would ask. And he would reply \u201cIt depends on whether you want him to be. Do you want him to be? Are you looking? What are your expectations? Would you know him if you saw him? Would you know him from Jack? Perhaps you and your questioning are really the issue here.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this way, while there was never a no-return policy, the lack of returns was assured.
\nSometimes people would journey to the manufacturer and ask, \u201cIf Muhammad is in the box, what is he doing in there?\u201d and associated questions like, \u201cHow did he come to be in the box, if that is where he is?\u201d and \u201cIs there possibly anyone else in there?\u201d sometimes followed by \u201cand how do they get along?\u201d Occasionally a traveler looking for answers would become clever and ask, \u201cAre we even talking about the same Muhammad? It is a very common name.\u201d<\/p>\n

The manufacturer would say, \u201cNo one knows\u201d \u201cIt is matter for the scholars\u201d \u201cHow is it any of your business?\u201d \u201cWith the utmost hospitality, as is the custom\u201d and \u201cLook in your own heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fast food outlet Muhammad in the Box makes the best falafel, granted the locations are difficult to find. They neither advertise or have a logo. But their falafel is the best, or at least that’s what they keep telling me.
\n——
\nFrom the upcoming book Tragic Stories Disguised as Jokes<\/em> by David Raffin<\/a>
\n***<\/p>\n

And also an excerpt from Viva Chapeau<\/strong>
\nfrom the book Rhyme or Treason (the hard fought illusion of choice) <\/em>by David Raffin<\/a> :<\/p>\n

Now, Islam is the youngest of the three faiths descended from Judaism.
\nMuslims pray on a schedule five times a day. Five Times. I am amazed you can get any suicide killings planned and carried out on that kind of a schedule.<\/p>\n

In this country a lot of people believe \u201cMoslem\u201d is synonymous with \u201cterrorist.\u201d
\n This is probably unfair. Like all the Jews who don\u2019t run people over with bulldozers, and all the Christians who don\u2019t torture people, there are all those Moslems who defy categorization by not blowing anything up. In mathematics there is a phrase for all of these people in all three groups: they are individuals who fall outside the standard deviation.<\/p>\n

It should be pointed out that men wearing turbans are more than likely not Moslems but Sikhs. I have nothing disparaging to say about the turban. The turban is a perfectly fine piece of headgear. In fact, I like to think the turban is a great mystery box that may hold many fascinating things.<\/p>\n

In the 1970s, in the Saturday morning cartoon starring the Harlem Globetrotters, there was a character (\u201cSweet Lou\u201d Dunbar) who could at any point reach into his giant Afro and pull out whatever was needed. I like to think this about the turban.
\nIt may not be true, but that has never stopped the propagation of any belief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

in, out, and about the box [for Charlie Hebdo] If a cartoonist draws Muhammad, he or she invariably will frame that drawing between four straight lines, a graphic representation of a box. Herein lies a problem: Nobody puts Muhammad in a box. The Muhammad in a Box was a toy popular in the fifties. You turned the crank and it played a tune. But Muhammad never popped out. Angry parents would take the toy to the manufacturer and complain. The manufacturer invariably told them that Muhammad does not “pop out.” Such would be unseemly. Some asked if Muhammad was really...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,12,4,2],"tags":[57],"class_list":["post-829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-my-books","category-personal","category-writing","tag-charlie-hebdo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3u13S-dn","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":380,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/representations-of-muhammad-in-out-and-about-the-box\/","url_meta":{"origin":829,"position":0},"title":"Representations of Muhammad, in, out, and about the box","author":"David Raffin","date":"August 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Raffin If a cartoonist draws Muhammad, he or she invariably will frame that drawing between four straight lines, a graphic representation of a box. Herein lies a problem: Nobody puts Muhammad in a box. Muhammad in the Box was a toy popular in the fifties. You turned the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2750,"url":"https:\/\/davidraffin.com\/weblog\/coffee-gives-gas-the-musical\/","url_meta":{"origin":829,"position":1},"title":"Coffee gives gas the musical","author":"David Raffin","date":"November 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The day you could no longer buy leaded gasoline was the saddest day for every waiter in America who was dependent upon the \u201cleaded\u201d or \u201cunleaded\u201d joke whenever approaching a table to offer caffeinated or decaf coffee. Now the coffee service was a hollow gesture. A mechanistic gruel. 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