A History of Violence (and Insanity)

About a month ago, I received one of those emails: one that is part of a chain and which you are supposed to forward to all the people you know... The email was in Arabic and it talked about some cartoons published in a Danish newspaper. I deleted the email, as I usually do. I was intrigued nevertheless, so I decided to do some research. I was surprised to find that not only the story was true but that it was some weeks old and seemed to be steadily degenerating. I did not expect the total degeneration it reached today though (which seems to be still escalating).

Those cartoons are not funny. They are insulting, intolerant, amalgamative and most of all non respectful. I think that this view is shared by a great majority of people, disregarding of their beliefs. The newspaper wanted a media publicity and it sure succeeded in getting it. However, I am still under shock by the reaction of some people with whom I share the same religion. It makes me feel sick and ashamed. How can they cry for tolerance when they are themselves intolerant? How can they claim that they are pacifists by burning embassies and threatening people? It is sad to see and say, but are they attempting to fit right in those caricatures they are denouncing? How can they demand of Westerners not to make amalgams while they themselves do them. Because these people clearly don't bother to mix between middle-east Christians or all the Christians of the world and the Danish ones or only the small group of the caricaturists. Although they don't accept the possibility that the Westerners may amalgamate between them and the terrorists. As far as I remember, they have always and systematically failed to make their point heard without violence.

Of course, I don't believe in absolute freedom of speech: it does not exist. And freedom of speech cannot exist without a minimum of respect. I believe that those who blindly support the newspapers are utterly stupid. Maybe they are as fanatical as those burning the embassies (it's only that their acts are not so spectacular and immediate). I also think that the newspapers which later published (or still doing so) the same cartoons as support for freedom are no better. Unless they want to get a lot of media coverage, that is. Which they seem to be getting anyway.

In short, I won't participate in neither the BoycottDenmark campaign nor in the SupportDenmark one. This stupidity and nonsense must cease as quick as possible...