I find the attention of the media to be an interesting phenomenon. We rarely hear of anything now on depictions of mohammed by the Danish newspaper, jyllands-posten. It reminds me of a story I heard once..... some time ago........
A man had travelled the same road many times before he was caught in a furious rain storm. He drove to the side, found a safe spot and decided to wait. Some time later, he was comfortable enough to take to the road again, and was able to make it to his destination. He heard later on the news there had been some that lost their lives as a result of the sudden storm, while travelling the same road he had travelled. He was home, safely, while others were grieving. We, those of us reading now, are fortunate to be the ones who have survived the storm. Never forget there are some that are grieving, hating and questioning the last storm. The storm in question is the contoversy regarding the editorial cartoons of mohammed. The newspaper published the following regarding their views....."The cartoon is not about Islam as a whole, but the part that apparently can inspire violence, terrorism, death and destruction. And thereby the fundamentalist part of Islam. I wanted to point out that terrorists get their spiritual ammunition from Islam."
I have provided a link i you wish to view the drawings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_drawings.jpg
"Critics claim that the cartoons are culturally insulting, Islamophobic, blasphemous, and intended to humiliate a marginalized Danish minority." (taken from wikipedia)
What we cannot forget is that people have died in direct relation to these pieces. Millions of dollars have been lost. http://www.arlafoods.com/APPL/HJ/HJ202COM/HJ202D01.NSF/O/5C0F5F1A22E7A621C1257125003AA995 And why? Because of a point of view? Or because a view was used to incite muslims? Well the storm may have abated but it doesn't change the fact there are those who are still feeling loss. And can we do anything about it? Can we look forward by looking back? Can we look forward by looking back, into history. What did the circumstances of Franz Ferdinand incite? Again it started with a tiny clipping from a newspaper. Do we still feel those effects today? I reckon we do.
5 comments:
If you ask whether it's wrong to publish media ridiculing Islam, you are asking the wrong question. If your son beats up another child, do you then try to teach him not to do it by beating him up? Presumably doing so would encourage him to do it again and then try to make sure you don't find out next time.
Defensiveness about one's religion is indeed a weakness. If you are going to ridicule someone who you already know is weak enough in their self-esteem that they will strike out at you, then you may predict the results easily. Everybody would be wise to learn to take a joke, or not let a simple cartoon get them angry, but some people are just too vulnerable in their beliefs to let something like that go. If you know you're going to offend somebody to the point where they're terribly upset, try to avoid it. This is what the Danish newspaper did wrong.
Of course it's also wrong to burn embassies down. The people that have participated in this action are giving creedence to the very notion which the cartoons are conveying: their religion is prone to violence. Every religion has its less proud moments. Any organized religion has such dangers. Christians killed Muslims during the "holy crusades". And yet neither religion has more or less right to exist than the other. They both give something precious to the world, just as any two unique people do.
So in a way, it is wrong to ridicule a religion, but it's also wrong to not let people have fun once in a while and laugh at things. There is no right or wrong side in this conflict, and these events. There are a lot of people who are behaving destructively. Hopefully they will realize sooner than later the horrific results of their actions and stop. None of them are evil people, they are only reacting to what they perceive as threats against themselves and their ways of life.
It is a shame that they hadn't learned more perception and patience before things came to this, but what's done is done. Do not look for who is to blame. Nearly everyone involved can be blamed, and punishing them will not quicken their ability to learn from what has happened. Some people hope, some people pray, but it's places like this website where people can find ways to pass the right information on to create a more educated mass populace less prone to such destruction.
Thanks again for the opportunity to speak here.
Psam
Wich is the worst sin, he that offends or he that got offended.
you cant sit on the fence, you need to support western civilization, or your ignorance will make you a victim of terrorism
It seems to me that the media is promoting the violence and feeding the fears of those who we consider the enemy because of their beliefs and (ideals ?????) are different than ours. One big viscious circle...their fears feed our fears.......????
A.V.
I think ppl like to make things so personal so that they 'feel' something. We as a society feel that the world owes us something we are quick to remind ppl when we are the minority, when we are different and when we feel 'little' in the world.
I seem to realize something from my childhood....it was always easier to blame than to take the blame, always easier to point a finger and admit someone elses wrong doings than admiting mine. Now as an adult I would rather not own up to my stuff but realize I must.
Yes ppl over reacted to that cartoon, whether positively or negatively,, yes ppl seem to have forgotten what took place only a few years ago in 2001. They want their piece of the pie now or so it seems,, they want the world to owe them something, they want to forget the times that we live in. They want to 'justify' if you will what took place.
It was a cartoon for crying out loud,, it was an opinion,, or do we no longer have freedom of speach in a country that is based on it's freedoms?
Post a Comment