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Originally Posted by hiredgun
Why haven't Muslims taken the energies that were squandered attacking some rubbish cartoons and channeled them into really engaging the West, critically and intellectually? If it would be too much to expect Pakistanis and Jordanians to come down on the warring Iraqi militias with harsh criticism, if it's too much to expect them to see past the feeble notion of an Iraqi 'resistance', then is it really too much to expect them to fill the streets in vocal opposition to this war rather than protesting images on a piece of paper? Shouldn't they be infinitely more concerned with the inhumanities committed at Abu Ghraib than with a stage prop that represents the Prophet's head?
And above all else, should they not be furiously rattling the bars of their own broken and despotic governments, all of whom, without exception, without a decent goddamn one among them, despoil their citizenries, lock up their brothers and sisters (in conditions far worse than those found at US detainment areas) and perpetuate their own rule through maddeningly authoritarian practices, sham elections (if that), and brutal state police?
Maybe I need to start a non-profit that engages Muslims in internal dialogue on this matter.
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So who exactly should be re-directing these "energies?"
Hiredgun, you're falling into the "us vs. them" trap. You speak as if there is some central committee who decide all Muslim actions. It's like saying the "West" is sitting idly by while the U.S. president conducts an illegal war. I'm a part of the "West," and so are you. So is Michael Jackson. Which one of us should be doing something about the injustices being committed by the "West?"
As far as "rattling the bars" of theor governments, I have a sneaking suspicion that it's not so simple as that. You would very likely be killed. I don't really know exactly how difficult it is to protest against those in power in, say Saudi Arabia, but I'm guessing it's not that easy (to put it lightly).
It's already been mentioned a couple of times that there was no coercion by Muslims to get the opera called off, so let's be clear on that point.