PREZ RACE: Ted Rall cartoon imagines Huckabee as Hindu fundamentalist

[ Resources for 2008 U.S. Presidential Race ]

A cartoon by Ted Rall, whose work is carried by about 100 newspapers (click to magnify). On his blog, he describes it this way:

Today's cartoon responds to the generally respectful tone accorded Mike Huckabee, who does not believe in evolution and is therefore, by definition, a lunatic.

Rall is no stranger to controversy. Wikipedia lists some of his controversial cartoons, including "Terror Widows."

Post your comments below.

(Click on cartoon to magnify)

Earlier on SAJAforum:

• Huckabee, other candidates, react to the Bhutto assassination news

See all items in the SAJAforum Cartoons/Comics collection

Comments

[P S]

I will groan if this blows up into a controversy. We Indians, especially Indians abroad, need to get a life and along with it, a sense of humour. We make fun of so many communities of people within and outside our country, in daily conversation, without ever thinking of ourselves as disrespectful. We really need to grow up and learn to have fun with self-deprecation - it is a sign of maturity and confidence, not a sign of low self-respect as some among us seem to think.

[Mukesh]

Eventhough it is cartoon and treat it like that, still it gives an impression that Hindu fundamentalists believe in whatever stated therein.
By no strech of imagination, any Hindu fundamentalist will ever think of earth balancing on whatever way it is described and not only that no present day Hindu fundamentalist ever believes in wife becoming sati.
If not for anything else atleast for factual incorrection of Hindu fundamentalism, Ted should be asked to correct himself or ask him to read more on Hindu fundamentalism.
What will happen today if some Hindu distorts the Christian fundamentalists' beliefs even in a cartoon?
Mukesh

[Vivek]

I do agree that we, Hindus must have a sense of humor. But this cartoon also indicates the depth of ignorance that exists among even the educated American class with regard to Hindu Nationalism which is mistaken to be Hindu fundamentalism by most non-Indians and even some Indians.
That is the reason why I wrote the book, Lies,Lies and More Lies. The Campaign to defame Hindu Nationalism (ISBN 0595435491) which has received some good reviews on Amazon.com.

[V N]

Of course, Hindu Americans have a decent sense of humor. Although, I think we need to teach the others how to really make fun of us. I'm Hindu and I have no idea what the "Great Cobra" is. I think this only emphasizes on how much white journalists know about Hinduism. So in my opinion, the jokes not on Huckabee or Hinduism. It's on Ted Rall.

[Ashok]

If we are forced to call ignorance and lack of sensitivity as sense of humor, let us appreciate these cartoons.
But in all fairness, they clearly shows the ridiculing tone, which the cartoonist probably have towards one important faith.
Imagine something on these lines, commented about Islam.
This cartoon is another example of someone taking advantage of Hindu's tolerance by making fun of them.

[Hasmukh Shah]

A cartoon, like a witticism, is enjoyable when it depicts some aspect of reality that you can resonate with, in a creatively twisted way.
The trouble with this cartoon is that its depiction of Hindu fundamentalism is so far fetched that I can not resonate with it (what is he talking about?) and so do not find it funny at all.
Many years ago, if memory serves me right, Columbia Univ. students put up a play that was soon closed because of objections raised by Indian Consulate. It depicted an imaginary romantic affair of Indira Gandhi with one of her advisors. Somebody remembered G. B. Shaw: Morals are like teeth; more rotten they are, more sensitive they become.
Lets not be sensitive about this nonsense.

[notsoyoungdesi]

I view the cartoon as being an attempt at satire and neither the accuracy nor the content should not cause offense to anyone. Satire often does tend to exaggerate or distort facts.

Most religions have elements that don't lend themselves to rationality and is presumably why belief in any religion is an act of faith.

[K]

Alas, the cartoonist and those who enjoy his work are perhaps the other side of the coin that is religious fundamentalist.

[David Branch]

Most of the jokes embedded in this cartoon are based on a very stereotyped version of Hinduism. Unfortunately, none of the jokes are very funny, even to a(n) (educated) non-Hindu. Well, the one about chanting was kind of funny, but that could be applied to Christians too ("Let us pray..."). Ultimately, the same sort of joke applied to Christians (forget about Muslims) would be intolerable to a liberal public. Imagine a cartoon Huckabee over a caption saying how he believes in traditional Christian epistemology... he produces a coin out of an empty palm (a magic trick), laughing about how everything came from nothing...

Hindi cosmology: there is no single cosmology that all Hindus believe. Indeed, as far back as in the Uddhava Gita, which predates Christ (if we choose to use that calendar), Indians knew that the galaxy was heliocentric. Furthermore, Vedists were among the first thinkers in the world to posit a universe of atoms without resort to Aristotelian-Medieval Christian notions of spherical globes surrounded by angels and a personal God-figure.

Sati: widows leaping into funeral fires was a practice among highly disturbed social radicals in North India (by no means a universal Hindu practice). People who believed in sati erroneously took a myth from a Puranic text and tried to derive some sort of practice from it, particularly in the face of Mughal invasions (many women in besieged forts immolated themselves to avoid rape). Endorsers of sati weren't 'fundamental'ists but deranged.

Caste/Untouchability: Since long before enlightened 'Westerners' preached castelessness to Indians, the Upanishads, Advaita Vedantists, Tantrics, and Bhakti saints ALL have inveighed specifically AGAINST casteism for over two millennia. Hindu religion at its core has many texts and major figures who have long denounced the travesty of a socio-political caste system supported by texts and traditions, like the ridiculous dharma sutras, which cannot find justification in FUNDAMENTAL ideas of Vedist religion, founded on concepts like dharma and ahimsa (introduced to the Indian landscape first in the Upanishads) with no reference to inherited caste.

CHANTS and the AUM symbol: It's sad that the 'AUM' symbol is in the background of a cartoon written by someone who is being so snide about the faith in which it is so important. As for chants, all religions have some sort of chant or musical element utilized as a means of focus for spiritual fervor.

[E. S.]

Groan, indeed. Such ignorance, such a pathetic attempt at I am not sure what. Ted Rall should do his homework about Hinduism and Hindu fundamentalism, and start over. Is he making fun of Huckabee's Christian fundamentalism? or of Hinduism? or both? Perhaps Rall's work is always on the nasty side. I find his references to sati and untouchables offensive. Remotely amusing is "Decision 2008 B.C." which is where Huckabee(cee) belongs.

[ashish dimri]

Dear Sri,
The nonsensical way certain americans treat India show intellectual poverty and "holier than thou" attitude .
Anywonders!Right from Iraq to Pakistaan is facing premature death!
yours,
ashish dimri
India

[Sarva_Mangala]

As a Hindu, I found the cartoon funny and the protestations in some of the previous comments facile. Indians in the US have been quite successful in portraying India and its culture as one of tolerance and enlightenment. Yet, anyone who has lived in India for any length of time could not have missed the undercurrent of violence, ignorance and intolerance.

Mr. Mukesh (one of the previous commentators) asks "What will happen today if some Hindu distorts the Christian fundamentalists' beliefs even in a cartoon?". May I remind him that a Hindu fundamentalist will likely not take such a benign route. Instead he is apt to rally a mob and attack his perceived adversary (read the accounts of recent attacks on Churches in India).

The subject of this cartoon may seem offensive to those who have conveniently coated their memories of India with a patina of fantasy and nostalgia. However, the reality is quite different. Until we confront and then change it, we have no moral authority to bicker about our portrayal. If we cannot initiate a change in our myopic outlook from within, then perhaps external stimuli such as this cartoon will force us to reconsider and initiate the reformation of our culture.

To those of the ilk of Mr. Mukesh - ones who aspire to regress to the supposed halcyon days of Hindu civilization - I would like to encourage them to instead open their eyes and hearts and harness the potential for the truly enlightened and egalitarian version of a Hindu nation. One that treats everyone with dignity, and respects individualism and self determination - A perfect blend of the ethos of Santana Dharma and American Libertarianism. Lets begin by recognizing our own faults; the log in our own eyes.

[panditjugalkishoreshastri]

the computer keyboard, when played with expression in english, is more annoying than a piano when played by a sister or a near relation. if the keyboard were played in Hindi there wouldn't be such vacuous display of verbal fireworks that whimper like wet firecrackers. some of these words are: patina of fantasy, halcyon days, libertarianism. whoever this talmudic halakhist be, he would have understood these words better were they said in hindi, the seat of hindu dharma. even the great kingfisher of arboreal southeast asia of HALCYON DAYS would chirrup uneasily being the subject of mangla's disseration on modernday entertainment, be it as lampoon, caricature or cartoon.

moral: whoever treats a cartoon as a painting is using the toilet bowl brush as a painting brush.

PS: if looking for the halakhist noun....look for halaga.

[Venkat Lakshminarayan]

Conventional wisdom in India expects the Hindus to be tolerant and respectful of other faiths. But the conventional wisdom in the West paints Hindus to be superstitious, ignorant, and of late, fundamentalists, thanks to the distorted and naive reporting of English media. The asymmetry is real. So is the ignorance of the cartoonist. Taking exception
to the cartoon and expressing such a view is a perfectly normal in an intellectual discourse, nothing to be ashamed of.

In the mean time Ted Raal, having displayed his ignorance to the whole wide
world, would do himself some good to get out of his box of ignorance and do his homework before he attempts his next assignment.

[MAHESH]

It is degrading to Hindusim,because Hindu Fundamentalist wants to do RITHUAL CHANT,than bombing,kiling,Flying planes into building,Burning flags,etc.....

[Wade]

Ted Ralls has no balls to make fun of Huckabee as a Christian fundamentalist that he is, or Jewish or Muslim fundametalists, because they might get him into trouble, put him out of his job, or worse.
So he picks on Hindu fundamentalists knowing that they are too tolerant to do him any harm. He is so afraid of saying anything bad about Christian fundamentalists, that he has to make up things to say to make Huckabee look bad.

[panditjugalkishoreshastri]

MAHESH

brahma and vishnu...the trinity... son of god, holy ghost and holy spirit...is the metaphysical spirit behind christianity . 'trinity' is what binds christianity and hinduism together. Shakespeare is buried in strafford upon avon in trinity, england. trinity was the college that newton attended where he wrote principia mathematica, perhaps, in Latin . whole of south india is full of murtis, a derivate of hindu trimurti. mullahs share nothing with christianity and jadaism except five archangels, abraham, moses etc. metaphysics of trinity is for civilizations that straddle antiquity and modernity with equal aplomb and finesse. Why would tedd rall offend me with the mention of semitic faiths and not dwell on 'trinity' instead. We tend to destroy things we love most. please don't treat trinity so frivolously. that i should be telling MAHESH this is like devil quoting scripture. but the devil is in details.

moral: religious writers are the most enduring writers of all times. ted rall has despaired of writing anything other than religion.

[Panditjugalkishoreshastri]

V.N.

the Great Cobra you talk about brings down a three-ton elephant in 10 minutes flat with one lethal bite. those lethal 4-ounce intravenously delivered shots attack the heart, the brain and the central nervous system simultaneously. that's how the elephant comes down. adders, vipers, rattlesnakes don't have such weapons. of all reptilian venoms cobra's is the only one that leaves you without a prayer. of about 3000 varieties of snakes only 10% are venomous. these 10% give these poor reptiles a bad name and recall for me: give the dog a bad name and hang him. America has deployed this strategy very successfully with terrorists. call any unemployed muslim a terrorist and he is good for gallows. reptiles don't have vertebrae either that's why they slither. the mating ritual of snakes is phenomenally interesting....particularly among water snakes. and they have two penises.

AND THUS CAME FORTH THE NOT SO MYTHICAL ...THE GREAT COBRA.

moral: poison that cures thrombosis is better than religons that kill as a policy.

[Sarva_Mangala]

jugalkishore, his prefix and suffix, not withstanding exposes himself as nothing but a charlatan. He attempts to counter an opinion, not by arguing on substance, but by impugning the writer. And It is plain to see that he is the one indulging in mental masturbation. Yet, if his effluent made any sense, no one would object to his attempt at self gratification. However, his keybordic ejaculate carries no merit; the words swim hither-thither, with no direction, with no veracity or virility - these words bear no fruit.

Just by yoking his pathetic self to the twin locomotives of "pandit" and "shastri" will not make a learned soul out of this pretender. Don't look up "halakha". Instead, look up a very apt doha by the poet-saint Kabir directed towards those who call themselves pandits.

[panditjugalkishoreshastri]

kabir and Doha round of trade negotiations notwithstanding, you, MANGLA, need to expand your teenage slang to include crime and drugs alongside your bodily functions. burping your worm subs well for traditional self gratification. a female in your place would accomplish same results by parting the red sea or by paddling the pink canoe. if you go muff diving you would call it moustachce ride and your sideburns will be called thigh ticklers. if you can't pitch a tent borrow a pair of applesacks and hit some hashish or herb but don't use a harpoon. just use a one hitter with a spoon up your nose.

moral: the art of conversation is really within the reach of almost everyone, except those who are morbidly truthful, or whose high moral worth requires to be sustained by a permanent gravity of demeanor, and a general dullness of mind. best conversation is the one that doesn't concentrate of itself.

[Sarva_Mangala]

Bhaiyya jugalKishore, why must you try so hard? I understand that it is very difficult for you to make sense whilst your head is buried under the proverbial quicksand of ignorance. However, must you insist on speaking through your posterior? Must you persist in barfing your random stream of consciousness, your thoughts that do not connect, and your sentences that carry no weight? Must you keep concocting your phantasmagoric soup of words - one that is neither tasteful nor nourishing? Must you?