Sunday, February 12, 2006

Mohammed Cartoons and Outrage in the Islamic World: an Alternative Perspective

I was at a blog site this afternoon called, enticingly enough, Jerusalem is the Place to Be. Gotta say, this sounds like my type of blog! Well, the first piece is a poem purporting a very interesting perspective on the reactions of the Muslim world to various atrocities, such as 9/11, other acts of terrorism, atrocities towards women and children, and the kidnapping of innocents, as well as the reactions to the cartoons of Mohammed, and asks the simple question, why outrage over the cartoons and not over these other atrocities?

The author agrees with my perspective that only approximately 5% of the Muslim people are radicals, and that they are generally speaking the only supporters of violence and these unspeakable acts. But, the author questions, where is the outrage at the acts of violence by members of their own faith, supposedly in the name of the faith?

I tend to make very clear the distinction between the radicals, a very vocal minority in the Muslim communities, and the general population. But what responsibility do the 95% of Muslims have to do something about the 5% that are defiling the good name of Islam with the blood of innocents?

As many who have watched my blog know, I believe that the Muslim community considers themselves to be oppressed, and are looking for a group that can lead them out of this oppression towards a brighter day, though what that bright day constitutes is up for debate. As such, the radical groups act as their champions; they may not like their methods, but they hope for good results.

But certainly, from the perspective of the enemy of these radical groups, which unfortunately I must say the West is, we must recognize that this attitude, and the lack of action and push for restraint by the Muslim people must, to some extent, apply some limited culpability to the group. I believe that how much culpability I would assign would differ tremendously from how much the author would assign, and perhaps would differ from how much you would assign.

But no stand is ever made against these acts, so they get worse and worse. At some point the good Islamic people, who do not believe in murder and hatred as a way of life, need to take a stand, and dictate what Islam will stand for in the world.

Posted by Scottage at 5:26 PM / | |