“If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we’d see the day when nobody died”
“If Everyone Cared” by Nickleback
Side 1: The movie was offensive and horrible! How can you blame people for protesting the movie?
And shuffles the violence to the back, excusing their behavior to “they don’t know any better” and leave it at that. They also forget that Muslims work for the U.S. government, including the military and Department of State, Meaning their own brother and sister could have died, not to mention their neighbor’s son or bosses daughter.
Side 2: It’s basic freedom of speech! These people are violent, cruel, and oppressive, and we should bomb the hell out of them.
And they are too ignorant to realize that these people have a different world mindset than theirs. That while violence should NEVER be tolerated, freedom of speech is right up there with the freedom to assemble. And if you think the issues are only about this video, then you are missing a lot of foreign policy information. Let me tell you a secret: It’s not about the videos.
Sad thing is both viewpoints feed into each other’s negativities and divisive attitudes that make more room for hatred and violence. Congratulations. I truly hope you are proud of yourself. Here, have a cookie.
As a Muslim, our first and most vigorous response is to denounce the violence that murdered people senselessly. Our primary goal should be to develop awareness and tolerance, and educated people that we do not all resemble violence. Stop being defensive. Listen and teach.
As an American, we should stop and consider how we got into this mess in the first place. It is our “take over the world” mentality and “kill them all, let god sort them out” attitude that has people enraged and acting in RETALIATION. We should try to fix this problem through understanding and tolerance. Stop being so defensive of rights that other people may not necessarily believe in. Listen and teach.
Share, Care, Love. ❤
A Stranger In My Skin 