+-[Questions and Curiosity]

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Steve Spielburg's new film, Munich. It sparked many a sentiment in me, not just about the past but also regarding events that have taken place in the last few months. The issue of the films effectiveness in delivering a specific message aside, I must share some reflections on a particular scene that grabbed at me.

Here we find Papa (an underground 'anti-terrorist' informant) speaking about the art of cooking with the film's protagonist Avner (assassine of Palestinian terrorist big-wigs). Papa chats whimsically with Avner saying that Avner's hands are much too large to be a great chef. The conversation quickly become a double-antandra when Papa whims, "Oh, we are tragic men. Butcher's hands, gentle souls."

You know it made me think what an ironic statement that is. This is not to say that people having been involved in events that took place 30+ years ago are the same as certain religiously driven militants today. Hear me out, a film is not actual events and has an agenda. Besides, films kind of say more than they have to. But, the motif is clear: Through and through in this blood bath of a film, it seems that everyone involved in a movement that wished to restore some sort of balance or equalibrium using radical means, i.e. violence, in the end everyone on all sides had blood on their hands and destruction in their hearts. Such is the fruits of hatred and ignorance.

Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that all violence is evil. In fact, passivism is a completely selfish stance to take. But, I cannot help but be curious when I come home, read the news, turn on the t.v. and I see foreign embassies, vulnerable guests in another land, smashed to rubble, flags aflame, and riots in the streets. And all of this is over what? What are those people fighting for? What are we fighting for? It is not clear to me that those at battle even know anymore.

If the answer is cartoons, that is, if Muslims the world over are taking to the streets with displays of violence, of all things over something as absurd as an animated figure, then do we have a serious problem on our hands? What happens in the case that the reaction to the cartoons is actually a telling reflection of a universally violent Islam? On the other side of the coin, are we guilty? Are we, those who create and/or propagate seemingly irreverent material whether for pleasure, thought-provocation or both, the purpatraitors? Is irreverance always a bad thing, or can it be life-giving? I leave it open.

These are not just issues for Americans to think about. We are dealing with global dynamics that are not simple or straightforward. Here are some sites that may help us search at least in terms of basic information and education:

Khaleej Times

A 'Moderate' Voice

Radical New Views of Islam and the Origins of the Koran

Cartoon Protests

Medieval Imagery of Muhammad

Irreverant Cartoons Done By Muslims Themselves:

Arab-European Cartoon

Arab-European Cartoon 2

Arab-European Dutoux Reference

Cartoons from the East

Historic Wisdom on Pride and Condemning Others:

Erasmus's 'Laus Stultitiae'