Zack Morris wrote:I was reading about the demonstrations in Egypt on some news web site linked at Google News (can't remember which). There was a comment from an Egyptian acknowledging that the filmmaker is an Egyptian but still supporting demonstrations and violence against the US because the film was made there, meaning the US is accountable for not defending the honor of Islam and the Prophet. Interestingly, in the same comment, the commenter asked us to consider how we would feel if someone made films insulting to Christianity or famous American historical figures (never mind that such films are made all the time). Evidently, this person is intelligent enough to understand that the US belongs to a different religious and cultural tradition, but still expects it to adhere to his own society's cultural mores and boundaries. Astonishing!
There is absolutely no understanding of -- let alone respect for -- secularism and the concept of Western-style freedom of expression in much of the world. Every now and then, I'm still surprised when I meet someone who is ostensibly worldly, progressive, and tolerant, but who nevertheless thinks that Westerners have some sort of universal responsibility to behave in a manner compatible with the cultural practices of people on entirely different continents! Criticism of Islam in particular seems to reveal these attitudes pretty quickly. Back in 2008, when the Danish cartoon controversy was still fresh, a very intelligent and globally-minded Turkish friend of mine in Japan was firmly of the opinion that the whole scandal was entirely the Danes' fault because they should have known better than to offend Muslims. In his mind, that was where the responsibility for the unfortunate deaths that resulted lay, not so much at the hands of the killers themselves who were simply behaving as expected.
Thank you VERY Much for your post, Zack Morris.
Seconded..........
However much I may dislike Serrano's "Piss Christ", that does NOT authorize me or other Christians to start hunting Serrano.......
Boycott it, yes........ Boycott its sponsors, yes.......... But no extra-legal violence...... *
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ
And IMVHO as distasteful to me as what Serrano did is, it is protected by the Constitution as IMVHO it must be or other true art will be banned....
This Satanic Verses/Mohamed Cartoon/Mohamed Film sparked violence gives us a view of what to expect if, G_d forbid, traditional/Jihadist/non-revisionist Muslims ever gain enough influence in Western Nations to begin enforcing their will....**
IMVHO, Muslims who want to use or condone violence in this manner, do not belong in Western Society.........
And maybe we should not be in Muslim societies, where this meme is the norm...
Quit wasting time, money and lives trying to teach Afghans and other people who prefer Caliph rule, democracy....... ***
If attacked as on 911 or Belsan, Milo Doctrine: Break and Leave....
And try to make sure 911 style infiltrator-saboteurs do not get in..............
Need to do CANDU Nuclear Reactors, conserve, solar power, maybe Solar Power Satellites, maybe even as much as I hate it, Fracking, to get off the Middle East Petroleum teat.... and consequent weapons technology transfer to a basically hostile culture........
And really, it is past time for Western and other more or less sane societies to begin the move to Space........
Too many kooks, especially religious kooks, and too many WMD........
We are living on borrowed time.........
*Note: When posting the link, I noticed that copies of Serrano's work have been vandalized, in one case quite recently (2011), so for the record, I say the vandals should be prosecuted and/or be sued & have to pay damages......
**and that may not be that many........Violence that is not effectively punished, talks VERY loudly....... Sometimes even if it is as seen with the Mafia............
***And remember that Democracy/Democracies/Republics are NOT inherently nice........ Ancient Athens, the Pirates of the Caribbean, Confederate States of America, even Uz......
For the love of G_d, consider you & I may be mistaken.
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