The bottom line is that we are dealing with a backwards society of savages who violently riot at the slightest provocation and show no desire to join a modern, tolerant, free-thinking and open-minded world in which a variety of viewpoints are met and engaged with reason and discussion instead of RPGs and Molotov cocktails. Until the societies themselves want to change, these sorts of flare-ups will continue to happen, and the societies that engender them will continue to trail the rest of the world in economic, social, scientific, and intellectual development. And it will be completely their own fault.
By: Brant
13 September 2012
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5 comments:
I think that you are completely wrong here on so many levels.
In fact, I'm stopping reading your blog because of this post.
I'm sorry you feel that way. I would hope that you'd be able to engage in a discussion about why you disagree, but I respect your opinion and option to seek info where you choose.
I've just seen to many repetitively similar actions day-after-day, year-after-year, that this was really the only conclusion I could reach, but I'm perfectly willing to be shown where I'm wrong.
OK, I disagree for the following reasons:
1. There were protests against terrorism in Benghazi after this.
2. Savages? A great deal of science comes from the Middle East.
3. The vast majority of people fighting against Islamist terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq are Muslims.
4. This was not a 'slight' provocation, but a massive one designed to cause maximum offence.
5. Many Middle Eastern countries are highly developed.
6. Egypt, Libya and Iraq have all held peaceful elections.
7. Our modern world isn't so great for many people. Look at our drug abuse and teen pregnancy rates.
I could go on, but I'm done here.
Knowing you probably won't be around to read this, I will attempt to nonetheless explain reasons why I don't think these are as noteworthy as I think you do. (Split across 2 posts)
1. There were protests against terrorism in Benghazi after this. There *was* a minor counter-protest in Benghazi, and it was maybe 10% of the size of the original one. Meanwhile, there were -zero- counter-protests in Cairo, Yemen, Tunisia, Gaza, etc. But mass protests against the killing of an American official?
Other than a handful on 9-12, have you ever seen a mass protest against the killings of Americans? It didn't happen after Beirut, Khobar Towers, the USS Cole, the African Embassy bombings, etc etc. I'm just not yet ready to see 40 guys in Benghazi staging a counter-protest and declare that all is right with the Arab world with regards to protests against Americans. Hell, they smashed and looted a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Pakistan to protest Danish cartoons.
2. Savages? A great deal of science comes from the Middle East. Name one significant scientific achievement from the Middle East since 1900. The Western world has far surpassed the Middle East in scientific knowledge since the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
3. The vast majority of people fighting against Islamist terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq are Muslims. There are a lot of them fighting Islamic fascists in across the Middle East. But the ratio of combatants is something like this:
Good guys: Muslims + Christians + Jews + Hindus + anyone else being targeted by Muslim Extremists
Bad guys: Muslim extremists + who?
4. This was not a 'slight' provocation, but a massive one designed to cause maximum offence. In the meantime, when The Book of Mormon played on Broadway, there were massive protests in Salt Lake City that destroyed 18 buildings and killed 11 bystanders. Or not.
There will always be people who create material designed to offend and provoke. The proper reaction is never death and destruction. The marketplace of ideas is not supposed to be that the last market stall left standing is the only one in business.
5. Many Middle Eastern countries are highly developed. There are some Middle Eastern countries with some development. There are also significant swaths of the Middle East that are illiterate backwaters in which rumor and innuendo promulgated by religious leaders are taken for "truth" with no desire or ability to check for veracity. If by "development" you are referring to modern transportation (which women aren't allowed to use) or web access (through which significant disinformation seems to flow greater than any accurate information) or universities (where religious studies dominate, and many students aspire to spend semesters in Western schools), then their "development" may mimic Western society in form, but certainly not in substance.
6. Egypt, Libya and Iraq have all held peaceful elections. Holding an election, and true democratic rule with respect for minority rights, freedom of assembly/association, due process of law, etc are not necessarily the same thing. It's not like the US are perfect at election politics either, but when the parties in the elections openly talk about imposition of oppressive policies (think the Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt insisting that particular strands of Islam become the 'official' religion), holding an election does not a pluralistic society make. Remember that Saddam held peaceful elections.
7. Our modern world isn't so great for many people. Look at our drug abuse and teen pregnancy rates.
We certainly have room for improvement. But we're not throwing acid in girls' faces for daring to go to school. We're not executing people for sexual orientation. We're not preventing women from voting, driving, or getting a divorce. We're not sentencing people for death for insulting a figurehead of one particular religion who has no meaning to any of the others.
Is there room for improvement? Sure. But I'm pretty sure there's more for them to improve.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. I like that our society allows for an open discussion about them and doesn't launch a jihad over disagreements.
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