Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Much ado about nothing


I am so angry and outraged about the reaction to these Danish cartoons. It's hard to write anything coherent about protests and violence that they have sparked. Having been in Brooklyn during 9/11, it's hard to be rational about the possibility of terrorism in Denmark, which given the response could be just a matter of time.

It seems to me that the Muslim community wants to terrorize the citizens of the world so any government that values personal freedom will become as oppressive as those in the middle east. What's next? Threatening violence if western women don't adopt veils because not wearing them "offends" Muslims? Hearing violent threats because of a tasteless cartoon greatly offends me... what should I do about it? Start attacking an embassy?

What I want to know is how to do live side by side with people you're afraid of? There's quite a Muslim population living in Kolding right now. How do I stop being scared of that man on the bus? How do I be friendly, nice and non judgmental--the person I want to be-- when all I see and hear is unwarranted violence?

1 comment:

guy2k said...

You could try talking to them. I'm guessing that while many are offended by the cartoons, most aren't violently offended. I'm guessing they're scared, too. . . of Danish Nationalists and their growing role in brokering minority Danish governments.