A U.S.-made trailer for a longer film attacking Islam has sparked protests across the Middle East and North Africa, according to an article in BBC.
“The Innocence of Muslims,” depicts “Islam as a religion of violence and hate, and its Prophet Muhammad as a foolish and power-hungry man,” according to the BBC article.
While many people agree that the video was offensive, should it be a cause for violent protests?
These protests are making a bad situation worse. The video was obviously produced in poor taste, but storming U.S. embassies that are trying to promote peace won’t solve anything.
Rather, people need to recognize that hate does exist and instead find ways to move forward, ways that are more positive and constructive.
Moreover, it’s embarrassing that such a video has been produced in the U.S., especially at a time when our country is pushing for democratic peace.
The views of a few ignorant Americans should not taint our country as a whole, but unfortunately, not everyone will see it that way. One movie appears to represent the entire U.S. now.
Did the producers expect this level of response? On first thought, one would say, absolutely, they knew what they were getting themselves into and didn’t care. Sept. 11 brought Muslim culture to the forefront, and Americans were made aware of just how sensitive the topic was. On second thought, however, not everyone in the U.S. is educated about religion and global affairs. Perhaps the producers were just really, really ignorant.
While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the video “disgusting,” it is important that the Obama administration as a whole show more action in response to the video. It would be interesting to see if the administration appeals to the protesters or ignores the region’s concerns.
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Or, we could stop appeasing ignorant radicals, stop running around apologizing for something that is not even our fault, not let ingnorant radicals dictate our First Amendment rights, and grow a backbone. Why should we apologize to a bunch of rioting thugs for free speech by an individual party not representative of the American government? Have these rioters “apologized” for burning our flags yet? Storming our embassies? Killing our ambassadors? Yet you still want to apologize to them…unbelievable! Do you even believe that this is really about the movie? The movie has been out there for months. It was translated by Egyptian media…just in time for 9/11. The riots started on 9/11. Libya’s attack was pre-planned. Stop looking at the world through rose-colored glasses, already! These rioters are Salfists or Al Queada supporters. Youc an apologize ott hem all you want, yet at the end of the day, they will still hate you and try to kill you. Rather than apologizing, how about we work together with moderate Muslism to put these animals where they belong…in cages?