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“Western attempts to cast the issue as one of freedom of expression display an ignorance of the local context of these conflicts, which are not mostly about religion so much as they are about religious nationalism and about power struggles within Muslim societies.”
Bullshit Juan! I think that anyone with an I.Q over ninety knows that there is more here than just the issue of freedom of expression. Of course there are power struggles and division within Muslim societies. We know that the cartoons that set off this firestorm were just a catalyst and that Denmark is really just a pawn in a much larger game of ‘we are a victim of western imperialism.
The problem is that most of us, even secular humanist like myself, just don’t give a shit (for proof of this there are 150 other editorials in response to Salon’s namby pamby coverage of this ‘crisis’ that will confirm this—most of it from left liberals like myself).
I’m sorry but when it comes to burning down diplomatic legations and killing people you don’t get extra points for having your religious feeling hurt. Denmark is a modern and progressive democracy that gives more in foreign aid per capita than any other country in the world. The fact that the fundamentalists of the Muslim world have singled out this country of five and a half million people-- who historically have not done much to harm anyone-- for censure just goes to show what fucking cowards and professional victims the fundamentalists are.
Chad Bagley
