For moderate and modern Muslims, it must be a tiring thing to watch, once more, as clerics stoke highly impressionable and easily angered radicals to rise up and destroy and kill over something as insignificant as a low-budget movie that, were it not for the violence, no one would have heard of or thought much about. Yet, we see the hostility from various countries around the world. Worse, we see governments, namely Egypt, who provides the most ineffectual of rebukes on the riots and attacks on foreign embassies. It is with Egypt that the U.S. is most concern but the crisis is twofold – religious and political.
From a religious point of view, where do the renewed attacks, protests and riots leave Islam? I don’t suspect that Muslims do or should care of how they are perceived outside their mosques and homes but it must have occurred to some regarding the level of insecurity in faith the actions of a few represent. In Islam’s early days, the religion was a vibrant and progressive faith whose focus on education and exploration, of the world and of ideas. Indeed, the Muslims were responsible for the preservation of Greek and Roman knowledge and philosophies. However, as the faith grew and the empires it counseled grew larger and more suspicious, Muslim clerics forbade outside or new ideas that could not be validated by the Qur’an. In doing so, the Muslims turned their backs on their own greatness and turned inwards, fearful of those from without who sought to pollute their faith. Today, if Islam is characterized by anything, it is those whose anti-modernity pervert the faith and its tenets. Meanwhile, Muslims who do not share such sentiments are overshadowed, outshouted and ignored.
Politically, this can only worsen relations between the Arab nations and the West. The United States has supported, albeit weakly, the movements that have sought a greater voice throughout the Middle East. However, as has been mentioned before, the Arab Spring has become more a hopeful description rather than an accurate one. Indeed, some of the same corrupt powers are being wielded by new faces that previously represented the voices of the oppressed. Though the U.S. did not do as much as many would have preferred, the actions of rioters are mystifying given that which the Americans have done. To Americans, the blame we “share” for the making of this film is telling in two ways. To citizens where the government approves or disapproves of any form of expression, there is a lack of understanding of how things work in a free society, where most have little knowledge of such a film. Second, the clerics and leaders whipping people into a frenzy couldn’t care less about Mohammad or his teachings; the film is simply an excuse to strike against those they hate.
Protestors destroyed our embassies and killed our representatives. Meanwhile, what does the U.S. do? The general consensus is that Libya has shown more stability and more outrage to the actions of a few than seen elsewhere. In Egypt, we give nearly $2b in foreign aid and President Obama has extended his greatest amount of support to President Morsi and recognition of the elected government. The lack of support and weakness of the response to the rioters suggest that the current Egyptian government will prove trouble for the Americans. Perhaps, our displeasure with the Egyptian response should culminate in a withdrawal of some or all foreign aid and a pulling back of our support of the government. Egypt’s actions deserve no less. Meanwhile, the unrest throughout the region needs to be countered by those Muslims with a greater world view. If not, Islam will be relegated to the extremists and the worst of stereotypes. We are already moving towards that.
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