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Muslim Over Reaction to...everything

Stewart

Stewart

Active Member
Last year it was the Jyllands-Posten cartoons in Denmark portraying the Prophet Muhammad that had Muslims the world over in a state of anger with hordes taking to the streets in protest.

This year we have the Pope quoting a 14th Century emperor on the subject of Islam. And once again, there's uproar.

I'm sure the majority of Muslims (western ones, at least) are all mature enough people. So why, the minute something is said to put the faith in a bad light, do they reach feral depths and take to protest?
 
I wondered about that myself when I read this morning's paper. Christians are constantly having to defend the historical actions of our ancestors, but let one of us bring up misdeeds or words of followers of other faiths, and the stuff hits the fan in a hurry. I'm not beginning to say that the Church has always acted correctly, but it gets old having to tiptoe around the sensibilities of radicals who seem to enjoy getting angry.
 
I just wanted to point out that there are also Muslims in other parts of the world (i.e. mine) that are also not overreacting.

Sure, the cartoon thing did go overboard, but there are a couple of things to look at here: first is the obvious disregard to another's religion - things that are laugh fodder for one is terribly sacred to another. There wasn't a need to kill people, for sure, but it is any surprise people are upset? Do people really think that when other faiths criticize Jews or Christians that the west don't feel anything? I'm more inclined to believe that you don't see the protest/retaliation in the media.

I'm not a Muslim, but I have lots of Muslim friends. The community here are simply living like you and me, just content with the state of our immediate surroundings and being simply grateful and hopeful to be at peace.

ds
 
Christians over react plenty. What about the Jerry Springer opera? Abortion clinics? The teaching of evolution in schools? The world is focussed on the muslim world at the moment and the media magnifies the actions of fundamentalists. Just like when the knife amnesty was on there were a ton of knifings reported in the news. There are always lots of knifings, but the media doesn't report them unless it's topical. Hysteria sells.

We see what the media decides to show us and at the moment it's fundamentalism that sells papers and makes people angry. A few years ago it was 'political correctness gone mad' and local councils banning Christmas. Did anyone's local council actually ban Christmas? Because I know mine didn't.
 
I think Litany is on the right track about the main culprit in most of this: the media. I'm sure the truth is still out there as to who actually said or did what first..I agree with DS about that cartoon last year; it was inflammatory and should not have been printed. But the media sold lots of papers over it, didn't they? Made the Islamic faithful mad, and let us "enlightened progressives" feel superior since "we" saw it as a matter of freedom of the press. I would need to see complete record of what the Pope said to understand his meaning. I'm not sure why he chose this particular example to bring home his point, but surely he has a staff of advisors who could have warned him that his choice of illustration might be offensive to many Muslims. But why should it be so offensive for him to quote a historical Islamic document?
 
You get overreaction with every religion. It's just such a touchy subject, and of course you have the fundamentalists ready to flame at the slightest spark. Unfortunately, this small minority of the religious population seems to be the ones whom most people use as models to stereotype the rest of their group. As Litany said, this is largely the fault of the media - reaction and over-blown anger is an exciting read for some.
 
You only have to watch the reporters after a big terrorist attack or even a natural disaster; see how excited they get. When the planes hit the twin towers on 9/11 it was as though all their Christmases (or whatever else they celebrate) had come at once. I think if you're a reporter it's your big moment.

I'm sure when I was a child the BBC used to tell it how it was; now they try to turn it into a movie as its happening:mad:

Boat.
 
MonkeyCatcher said:
You get overreaction with every religion. It's just such a touchy subject, and of course you have the fundamentalists ready to flame at the slightest spark. Unfortunately, this small minority of the religious population seems to be the ones whom most people use as models to stereotype the rest of their group. As Litany said, this is largely the fault of the media - reaction and over-blown anger is an exciting read for some.
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Very true. The average pro-lifer would never think bombing an abortion clinic, and a lot of us have never picketed one either.
 
The cartoons can be printed in the first place, of course. They may not be the best cartoon for lots of muslims, but I'm pretty sure it was hilarious for others. It was the decision for some of the other papers to reprint and pretty much said 'screw you, this is freedom of the press' after there was the protests that I went hmm... is that wise?

At one end of the spectrum we have people who should respect people's religions, on the other why has the world community as a whole turned into a prune - every little thing has to be politically correct and not offend anybody.

Soon nobody will be able to print anything.

And even that last sentence may have offended some futurists.

ds
 
I believe that Bush is on to something when he speaks of "Islamo-fascism." Not every Muslim is a part of it and we have many Muslims in the U.S. who have made our tapestry of diversity what it is today. What the president speaks about is those who would drape the law of the sharia over every land. Who would have archaic and backwards laws based on the Qur'an replace civil law. Women's rights would also take a hike and there would be a segregation of the sexes. It started with the Ayatollah Khomeini issuing a fatwa against Salman Rushdie. You have Theo Van Gogh, the Dutchman who was killed. Now you have the Pope who is the target of their anger. If you read his speech, you find that he mentions both Islam and christianity. He was speaking of disagreement between the individual religions and how universities are the institutions where those things are ultimately hashed out through the discussion of ideas. It really wasn't an insulting speech by any means.

I'm an American liberal. I believe that the war in Iraq was a drastic mistake and that there were no WMD's in Iraq. Furthermore, evidence existed before the war that these Iraqi ex-pats should not have been believed. I don't believe that my government should hold people while suspending their rights. At the same time, I believe that many of my fellow citizens, and fellow Europeans who live in free, democratic governments, are terribly naive as to the danger that this "Islamo-fascist" movement presents. They hate us for our separation of church and state, the advancement of women's rights, not to mention freedom of religion. Personally, I'd love to see Afghanistan and other nations come to develop those things which they hate and dread the most. It would be the ultimate way to honor the lives of those whose lives were needlessly taken. I could think of no greater honor in that regard.

Sadly, they have acted on the out of context reporting of the Pope's words.
Italian nun killed in Somalia.:mad: :mad: :mad:
 
I read a portion of the Pope's speech in the NYTimes today. Nothing insulting as far as I can see. For the average US citizen the pope seems like a pretty antiquated institution, really a figurehead, so it amazes me that so much attention is still paid to the Roman Catholic Church anyways. It also irks me that the RC Church seems to represent Christianity as a global whole and by default is somehow intrisically linked with the US.

I don't see my Christian friends getting pissed when they do a skit on Saturday Night Live about the Pope nor when Sinead O'connor tore up his picture. Nor do I see Jews getting their panties in a wad about such things when directed at their faith. What are the damn fundamentalist Muslims so worked up about? They're are so defined by their religious beliefs that there is no separation betwen their social and religious ideals.

I have a small group of Muslim friends and lots of Muslim clients and I want to be clear. I don't hate Muslims - only the Muslims that want to kill me.
 
Looking at the pictures of picketing Muslims with signs that read "Behead those who insult Islam" and other colorful phrases on handmade signs made me shiver just a bit. I realize that this is just a handful of the Muslim people, but it seams to me that a handful can sometimes be enough.

The problem when you stage a threatening, although peaceful demonstration, you will get a reaction. The media makes sure that there will be a reaction, thus the chain of events begin; or at least the media will try to make it so.


Can't we all just get along!:)
 
Dogmatix said:
I don't see my Christian friends getting pissed when they do a skit on Saturday Night Live about the Pope nor when Sinead O'connor tore up his picture. Nor do I see Jews getting their panties in a wad about such things when directed at their faith. What are the damn fundamentalist Muslims so worked up about?
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The thing is that fundamentalist Christians and Jews do get "their panties in a wad" over the things that you have outlined above, something which people discussed above. Possibly your friends are more liberal in regards to religion. I think that the Muslim reaction is similar to the fundamentalists of any religious group - the other groups just aren't getting as much media attention at the moment. The South Park episode which depicts the Virgin Mary statue bleeding from, er, 'non-public' regions caused a huge furor amongst fundamentalist Catholics here, for instance. As Litany said, the media holds all the power as to how different groups are portrayed.
 
MonkeyCatcher said:
The thing is that fundamentalist Christians and Jews do get "their panties in a wad" over the things that you have outlined above, something which people discussed above. Possibly your friends are more liberal in regards to religion. I think that the Muslim reaction is similar to the fundamentalists of any religious group - the other groups just aren't getting as much media attention at the moment. The South Park episode which depicts the Virgin Mary statue bleeding from, er, 'non-public' regions caused a huge furor amongst fundamentalist Catholics here, for instance. As Litany said, the media holds all the power as to how different groups are portrayed.
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I do not remember any Catholics, no mater how small of a group, wanting anyone’s heads for offending the Virgin Mary after the show aired! That would be a funny sight; old ladies with behead Matt Stone signs. Believe me, if this had happened, it would have made the news.
 
Justin91 said:
I do not remember any Catholics, no mater how small of a group, wanting anyone’s heads for offending the Virgin Mary after the show aired! That would be a funny sight; old ladies with behead Matt Stone signs. Believe me, if this had happened, it would have made the news.
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Exactly!. Which is why the conflict deals with religious form of fascism. Everyone is to be under their laws and in the society as they deem fit according to their beliefs. Nuns aren't beheaded, authors don't go into hiding, and other religious figures aren't forced to increase security because of christians. The other group takes it to the extreme.
 
Litany said:
Abortion clinic workers and clients are.
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Excellent point-Eric Rudolph is a good example of this. Though the government captures these types and they are in jail where they rightfully belong. As for the beheaders and overall malcontents over there.........:eek:
 
To quote Stephen Fry: "So you're offended? So fucking what?"

There is no fundamental right not to be offended. Some people are offended very easily, and indeed a few seem to go out of their way to be offended, particularly by things they haven't seen and that weren't aimed at them. (eg Jerry Springer: The Opera).

direstraits said:
first is the obvious disregard to another's religion - things that are laugh fodder for one is terribly sacred to another
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Again: so what? I am offended by the popularity of Dan Brown's novels, but I don't protest against them in the street. (Or not any more.) The works of Martin Amis are terribly sacred to me, but I wouldn't declare a sentence of death on someone who flushed a copy of Money down the toilet.

These may seem like asinine comparisons, but I use them for a purpose. Why should a book be more 'protected' because millions of people have believed in it for one or two thousand years? Why should we be more respectful of the Bible or the Quran than we are of the collected works of L Ron Hubbard?

Ultimately, I think if religious fundamentalists accepted that their hobby is no more important or special than any other one like stamp collecting or gardening, then we would all get along just fine.
 
I'd wager that more people have been killed by "islamo-fascists" than by abortion doctor shooters.
 
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