From Fox News: Protesters angered by a film they consider blasphemous to Islam have
stormed the U.S. Embassy compound in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in the most
recent attack on U.S. diplomatic posts in the Middle East.
Protesters
smashed windows as they breached the embassy perimeter and reached the
compound grounds, although they did not enter the main building housing
the offices. Angry young men brought down the U.S. flag in the
courtyard, burned it and replaced it with a black banner bearing Islam's
declaration of faith — "There is no God but Allah."
Yemeni
security forces who rushed to the scene fired in the air and used tear
gas to disperse the demonstrators, driving them out of the compound
after about 45 minutes and sealing off the surrounding streets. It was
not immediately clear whether anyone was inside the embassy at the time
of the attack.
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I agree with your premise: the very idea of "blasphemy" is a lame idea for any sort of protest or violence. I'm an atheist, though, and think that applies across the board. I do wonder what the reaction would be from people like Terry Jones, if the tables were turned: if prominent Muslims produced a film about a womanizing/gay (it doesn't make sense, but apparently that's how the actual film goes) Jesus, with no redeeming values.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it would just be laughed at. But it would seem that the grapevine in the Muslim world has this movie being a big Hollywood production, promoting actual mainstream American thought, rather than being an amateurish piec of garbage. How would the tea party react to a Muslim-made film trashing Christianity, if they thought it was sanctioned by Palestine, or worse, Iran?
Short version: I agree that a religious riot to prove that your religion isn't violent is idiotic and lame. But I think provoking that reaction on purpose is idiotic an lame as well.
FYI, Muhammed has been made fun of on South Park, first as part of "The Super Best Friends." Later, when they tried to do it again, it sparked controversy, and they had to do a rewrite, but it still wasn't a flattering portrayal. So it does happen. But not much, because there is the risk that their radicals will go bonkers like they did this time. That's probably a function of having a religion that is rooted in its origins, from centuries ago, rather than adapting to changing times.
DeleteThis wouldn't happen if we didn't have such a weak President.
ReplyDeleteI am a proud American and there's a lot of things that I see on TV that irritate me but I don't go out and kill in the name of God because of it why because I'm a educated person and I know the difference between right and wrong
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, there have been Mosques burned down, and vandalized here in the US. There was a long term fight over the "Ground Zero Mosque", if you'll remember. We can't claim that Christians don't lose their shit once in a while.
ReplyDeleteAlso: "Obama's Fault" seems to be an echo of "Bush's fault," and before that, "Clinton's fault." If you think that this idiotic film was somehow Obama's fault, or that the protests in the Middle East are somehow Obama's fault, I'd love to see the evidence. Also, given Bush's bad decisions in the region, WHO do you think would have done a better job? "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" McCain?