In all the news coverage I’ve seen on the Newsweek blunder accusing US interrogators of disrespecting the Koran and inciting riots across the Muslim world, there is one angle that I have not seen presented, yet.

First, consider the treatment of the Guantanamo inmates. We know that their physical needs are being met (food, clothing, shelter), but also consider the effort that has been made to also attend to their spiritual needs. This Time Magazine article is very critical of the situation, yet it also give insight as to how accommodating the US has been:

All new inmates at Guantanamo start in Camp Three, the highest-security unit. (There is no logic to the camp names: Camp Three is tighter than Two or One, but Camp Four is the least restrictive.) Cells are 6 ft. 8 in. by 8 ft., with a squat-style toilet, a metal sink and a sleeping berth affixed to green steel-mesh walls. Each new detainee is issued a pair of shorts, a pair of long pants and two T shirts, all in orange, plus shower shoes, a towel and washcloth, toothpaste and shampoo, a prayer mat, beads, prayer oil, a prayer cap, a copy of the Koran and basic bedding, though no pillow.

I’m not insinuating that the camp is anything less than a prison; however, I do believe the world ignores any attempts to be sensitive to the religion of the prisoners. Yet a single unverified rumor of a very wrong and insensitive action taken by an individual gains immediate attention and provokes severe riots.

The other thing that comes to my mind is to consider the situation in the reverse. When a Christian or Jew or any non-Muslim person who actively practices their religion is imprisoned in any of the Muslim nations, what kind of respect is shown toward their special needs? Are they provided with a chaplain compatible with their beliefs and a copy of their holy scriptures? Are they given a mat to meditate on or rosary beads or perhaps phylacteries?

It is obvious that Newsweek was unwise in bringing something unverified to print, but honestly the riots do not bother me that much, aside from causing sadness at the needless loss of life. Yet, if it was not this thing, it would be something else. Muslim fundamentalists will carry on and rouse up the masses for as long as there are nations in the world that do not subscribe to their beliefs.

Their religious sensitivity ends at the threshhold of their mosques.