Not sure if you are all aware of the developing situation in the Middle East, but things could get big there fairly soon. Yesterday A U.S. ambassador in Libya was killed and today more protests at U.S. embassies are taking place, spreading to Yemen and Cairo.
Tell me more about what's going on there.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/09/13/yemen-protesters-muhammad-film.html?cmp=rss
I did some more digging around CBC and I found the video that has all these protesters riled up. Not only is the film terrible in a sense that it has bad acting, sound effects, visual effects and quality, but it mocks the Muslim religion to the extreme. The film maker an Israeli-born Jew, Sam Bacile does not have a full understanding of the Muslim religion. I don't either but he just goes after the whole segregation as if they have a bulls eye on their backs. He makes them out to be ruthless hate mongers, who kill all who oppose them. (Link below) (1) Furthermore he mocks Muslims stance on marriage (Which is polygamy; one man and one or more woman) when he doesn't have a complete grasp of their ideologies.
ReplyDeleteMuslims from Egypt, Yemen, Bangladesh and Libya were outraged by the film and began to riot in the streets. American ambassador Chris Stevens was one of four killed in a five hour assault. US marines were sent to investigate as to who did it and if al-Qaeda was involved. (2)
1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=UtDodhEFnks&NR=1
2)http://abcnews.go.com/International/libya-consulate-hit-attacks-lasted-hours/story?id=17215154#.UFJ8irJlQe4
This is my weekly post...
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the first link the video has expired- the user took the video off youtube. But, from that description, the video is definitely offensive. I think Americans need to be more careful about their views they put out into the media. If they continue to put out negativity towards the Muslim religion and the people affiliated with the religion hostility will only grow on both sides.
The next generation of Americans will grow up with these videos, thinking that the information they see in these videos is correct. They will see the reactions to these videos in the Middle East and immediately think the Muslims are monsters for killing Americans.
I have found a statistic of Anti-Islamic hate crimes in the USA, which totalled around 160 in 2010. (1)
I am a firm believer that ignorance breeds hatred, and in my opinion I think the American Government should take a firmer stance on acceptance and not allow videos like this. I think Americans need to be educated about other religions, so 160 people don't need to lose their lives over faith. I am in no way excusing the actions of the protests in Libya, as killing an Ambassador is never alright, but every action has a reaction.
1) http://www.dearbornfreepress.com/2012/01/27/hate-crimes-fbi-stats-on-muslims-jews-gays-hispanics/
An interesting set of photos from the Libyan people. It shows another side that I think is very important to the discussion.
Deletehttp://www.buzzfeed.com/jtes/12-photos-of-benghazi-citizens-apologizing-to-amer
This is my post for this week...
ReplyDeleteReligion is an extremely tumultuous topic to discuss and I find it hard to find a happy medium without bias. Secularism vs. Spiritualism has been a controversy for centuries. These attacks, wars, conquests, conflicts, have been happening forever as well. In this situation, horrendous acts were made on BOTH sides. Fanatic Americans need to sit down and stop believing that their way is the right way and Muslism extremists need to calm down and not be ready to kill people for religious purposes. It makes me sad that we have to target each other's religious/non-religious beliefs in order to ascertain who is better among us. The issue here should not be a religious issue, it should be the fact that a man, a father, a son, a brother, had his life taken from him because of a religious faction. It would be nice if filmmakers and authors and artists, not just in the "free world" but in the entire world, were able to express themselves without it having adverse affects. #FREEDOMOFSPEECH. It's unfortunate that people are still living in oppression and are unable to convey their thoughts or feelings in fear of extreme acts of "religious-based" violence against them.