Nancy A. Youssef and Amina Ismail, writing for McClatchy Newspapers,
have a good play-by-play on how a poorly made, intentionally offensive video clip went from being pimped by its anti-Muslim zealot creator to a reporter to being the ostensible focal point of the latest round of violence and protest in the Middle East. (Our old friend Terry Jones, the grand standing, Koran burning Florida preacher makes an appearance).
Part of the problem seems to be, culturally, a lack of understanding and appreciation for our First Amendment. The Middle East is full of places where government can and does suppress speech it deems troublesome. When the U.S. doesn’t suppress something here, it probably looks to them like an endorsement on some level. In addition, our exposure to so much garbage because of the First Amendment gives us a sort of strengthened immune system we take for granted. Getting violently angry just because someone said something deliberately obnoxious strikes us a bizarre.
Good points taken. While serving in Ras Al-Mishab, Saudi Arabia, Bedouin- type hosts were fascinated by anything in our wallets. They were overtly friendly and I wondered what their take was on the Middle East in general. When I asked once about Israel, they gently commented that the bigger threat was Saddam Hussein. I didn’t follow-up with another question. Our interactions remained very cordial. Like it or not, Middle Eastern people know that we here in the West enjoy huge freedoms. Their tolerance wanes, as in any conflict, when there is any perception of disrespect to their religion.
Need we guess how Pat Robertson would have responded to a short film showing Jesus Christ as a pedophile, womanizer or thoughtless ? Cowardly arson would be the result most likely and the more deaths the better. I support Freedom of Speech. At the same time, people must be held accountable for their words/deeds in the execution therein. NeoCon ideology need not be injected here because, if basic responsibility for one’s actions is ignored, no premise can be intelligently parsed with the acumen needed to address cause, effect or prevention of such barbaric sequelae.