Now ask WHY it's that way. Removing the context of the nation is an easy way to make some pretty scary correlations. Let's look at it this way...the most violent nations in the world, by almost 100% above the 3rd (USA) are South Africa and Swaziland. Algeria is 15th, then that's about it on reliable data for African nations. Maybe it's coincidence that the nations of Africa are higher than the rest of the world. Or maybe is it that Africans are naturally more violent?
Correlation without causation. Africa is a problem area. Crime will of course be high. There are probably some good people out there committing violent theft to feed their family and there's going to be logical answers behind the how and the what of the statistic. We take that here and we have to believe that it'd be natural that people are on edge. The areas that hold heavily Muslim. You add in a vent to let out some frustration and concerns and away we go. I'm not convinced any other religious population would do much better given all that has impacted the area if you gave them the same problems.
Lack of education, poverty, restriction of human rights, women's rights, etc.
Stop ruling the country under Shariah Law and you'd see a marked improvement.
I wanted to post this because I feel that many people see nothing but headlines about terrorists or Islamic extremism and it creates a type of vacuum that paints an unfair portrait of Islam.
I wanted to post this because I feel that many people see nothing but headlines about terrorists or Islamic extremism and it creates a type of vacuum that paints an unfair portrait of Islam.
Reading headlines and listening to Islamaphobes and bigots cast generalizations about an incredibly complex situation doesn't do anybody any good.
Do we generalize Christians based on the KKK, Amy of God, or Joseph Kony's LRA?
You probably wouldn't have to generalize Christians based on the KKK etc., because enough of the general population proudly condemns the actions of the few and are not scared to speak out. On the other hand a completely distorted world view is what is taught in most dictatorship countries. The violence is simply taught. Many countries that do have the resources are simply stuck where they are at due to a dictator controlling the revenue and not sharing it with their citizens and then forcing a bunch of garbage information on them. "You are poor because of the west, please ignore my palaces".
I would imagine many people in the Islamic regions that seem most violent are afraid to challenge or speak up and have been told how to think. Remember, in much of the these countries there are little minority rights so you better be on the side of the majority.
In this thread there were people blaming the movie for the killings rather than blaming the killers - this is a brutal and terrible way of thinking.
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I wanted to post this because I feel that many people see nothing but headlines about terrorists or Islamic extremism and it creates a type of vacuum that paints an unfair portrait of Islam.
Thanks, and I will also add that, again, I have no issue at all with the call for more condemnation of these acts from moderate Muslims and prominent Islamic figures. ...
After thinking it through and talking with my roommate over waffles about it this morning, I've realized that I was wrong.
What my feeling was was that all members of a community bear some responsibility for the actions of all members of that community - and I was defining community as any group a person chooses to identify with.
I did not think of this as divisive, but rather inclusive, as carried to its furthest extent it makes all people, at least peripherally, responsible for the actions of all people. I realized, however, that it leads straight to generalization which IS divisive. (You are an X so you need to act in Y manner in this situation, regardless of what else you might be).
I also realized that what I was doing was making altruism a responsibility. I was demanding all people try to act altruistically in all situations and I realized this was not a reasonable thing to demand.
I wish people acted as altruistically as reasonably possible in all situations, but it is not logical to require them to do so.
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I wish they would stop saying they're doing this out of protest against that film. They're attacking people and facilities that have absolutely nothing to do with it, and it seems pretty clear certain people are simply hell bent on destroying things and hurting people for reasons being masqueraded as "protest."
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"An adherent of homeopathy has no brain. They have skull water with the memory of a brain."
I'm surprised by that, KFC is very popular in the Arab world.
Agreed, I just had to laugh at that. My local KFC has an almost entirely Arabic or North African patronage. I don't know if anyone here has seen the British dark comedy Four Lions, but it is reminiscent of the suicide bomber who targets his local chicken shop in London where everyone is Muslim.
I wish they would stop saying they're doing this out of protest against that film. They're attacking people and facilities that have absolutely nothing to do with it, and it seems pretty clear certain people are simply hell bent on destroying things and hurting people for reasons being masqueraded as "protest."
*** throws in the oblitgatory Vancouver comment ****
I wish they would stop saying they're doing this out of protest against that film. They're attacking people and facilities that have absolutely nothing to do with it, and it seems pretty clear certain people are simply hell bent on destroying things and hurting people for reasons being masqueraded as "protest."
Their goal is clearly to have those embassies removed. They're is a certain subset of the population in Sudan/Egypt/Libya/etc.. who wants to see their contry isolated as much as possible. They would love to see their country plunged into some kind of 15th century dictatorship.
I wish they would stop saying they're doing this out of protest against that film. They're attacking people and facilities that have absolutely nothing to do with it, and it seems pretty clear certain people are simply hell bent on destroying things and hurting people for reasons being masqueraded as "protest."
Yeah kinda reminds me of the Americans invading Iraq.
The fall of dictatorships does not guarantee the creation of free societies. There is often a period in which we witness the legacy of tyranny. The Arab uprisings have overthrown tyrants in Egypt and Libya, but the populations and lawmakers have yet to grasp that democracy is not only about free elections but creating free societies.
[ . . . ]
These are people who were born and raised in dictatorships. They are accustomed to thinking that a government controls its citizens -- that a film or documentary cannot be produced without government approval. For decades, this has been the reality of their lives, and they strongly believe that the Western world and its citizens have a similarly controlling relationship between individuals and government.
[ . . . ]
The freedom to proselytize also guarantees the right to apostatize. Heresy and blasphemy are essential parts of free and democratic societies. . . .
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"An adherent of homeopathy has no brain. They have skull water with the memory of a brain."
Not all Muslims are terrorists...but most terrorists are Muslim. Maybe thats a coincidence, or maybe its because Islam is the most violent of the religions in the world? If there's an incident of terror that occurs in the world, I'm sorry but you and I both know the odds are they are an Islamic fundamentalist group.
I'd give myself at least 50/50 odds of living in this situation. Dissing Muhammed in Mecca? 1/100 odds of living.
Unless it's a recent terror incident in YOUR COUNTRY!
(Since 9/11)
Last edited by longsuffering; 09-14-2012 at 12:21 PM.
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