Somewhere in the middle or nowhere at all
Sunday, 5 February 2006 | 83 readers so far
Who is to blame for the recent violence over offensive cartoons? Fundamentalist Muslims encouraged behind the scenes by those in Middle Eastern governments who benefit from any activities that stir anti-West sentiment. Does the name Assad ring any bells?
I’m reading through Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies and was struck by part of the text where he discusses the failure of societies that refuse to embrace new technologies (which require embracing new ways of thinking). It’s interesting to me that modern fundamental Islam today is in the position of either embracing new ideas and becoming more tolerant of other belief systems or of being subsumed.
With each passing year, it becomes harder and harder to live in closed societies that fundamentally differ in their core values, especially when it comes to that most important value - the sanctity of human life.
The wars of the 21st century will be fought over two issues - individual rights and societal value systems. A society that doesn’t value human life is a society that will inevitably self-destruct. You cannot burn everything down and throw rocks at other human beings every time you disagree with someone. You cannot threaten to kill the rest of the world when it disagrees with you. It’s intolerable and has to be dealt with.
Burning the embassies of Denmark and Sweden are counterproductive and akin to collectively spitting in your own eye. Those calling for appeasement are wrong. Muslims are offended by cartoons? The rest of us are more offended by images of burning buildings and the signs calling for decapitation of anyone who disagrees with fundamental intrepretations of Islam. You embarass yourself if you do not stand against this sort of behavior.
Being offended is no excuse for acting barbaric. If you want to guarantee the failure of your society teach your children to think like the man in the photo above.
1 February 5th, 2006 at 8:07 pm
EXDemocrat says:
There are so many people who still don’t get it. This has gone beyond the cartoons now. If all the Muslims had done was boycott and protest, they probably would have had more people on their side. But when they started behaving as we expected them to, with torching buildings and speaking for Al Queda, they have lost that support. Of course, those in the ME who are opposed to this type of behavior cannot speak about it, they end up in jail or worse.
2 February 5th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
Trevor says:
Some people won’t get it until their world has been destroyed, or until they die of old age still protected by those who do get it.
As I write this, there are two Jordanians in jail for publishing the “offensive” images in their nation. They are probably going to be dealt with very harshly. They get it, but they’re paying a heavy price.
3 February 5th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
EXDemocrat says:
Yes, the Jordanians were part of what I spoke about. Also, there is another aspect of this that comes to mind. We now know that in Iraq, there were “staged” gatherings. People were forced to do what SH said, whether they believed it or not. Of course this does not speak for those in free countries, but it does for some of the others. How many hidden cries for help are out there?
4 February 6th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
Walter E. Wallis says:
It is time to talk quarantine - Send all Islamic travelers home and stop all tourism to Islamic nations until they grow up.