CROSSVILLE —
The Middle East has provided a volatile mix of religious, cultural, political, and economic passions for many years.
Our nation has been more than a bystander in many of these disputes. Through our financial and military support we've taken sides. We are a strong financial supporter of Israel and in the past have supported Arab dictators. Recently we have been involved in continuing wars for control of Iraq and Afghanistan that keep costing money and lives. Quick-entry military teams have been able to assassinate such enemy targets as Osama bin Laden. Now we are beginning to convert our control mechanism over the region to fleets of drones that can be operated from the U.S.
The Arab Spring developments in recent years have brought some new alignments for us, but the violent events during the past week or two indicate that there is a substratum of antipathy and anger against the U.S. Our consulates and embassies have been attacked, and even the one ambassador, Chris Stevens, who had the greatest empathy and understanding of the Arabic language and culture, lost his life.
There are many elements fueling Arab anger: pictures of American soldiers urinating on Afghan bodies, innocent Arabs killed by drones, the continuing plight of the Palestinians in Israel, the burning of Korans by a minister in Florida, conflicts between Coptic Christians and Muslims in the Middle East.
But now a new element has entered the mix: a film, "Innocence of Muslims," that denigrates Islam and portrays Mohammed as a fraud, womanizer, child molester, and depraved sadist. In its final scene, a sword-wielding Mohammed cries out: "Every non-Muslim is an infidel! Their hands, their women, their children are our spoils!" Actors in the film have come forth to say that they had no idea that this was an anti-Muslim film, and that a dubbed-in soundtrack had been substituted for their words.
Further information has come out about the film. It was produced by a right-wing non-profit organization in southern California, Media for Christ. There were two people in charge of the film's production. One was Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, an Egyptian-American Coptic Christian and ex-felon with many aliases (such as Sam Bacile) on federal probation for bank fraud. A second was Steve Klein, a California insurance salesman and founder of Courageous Christians United (the sponsor of many protests outside mosques, Mormon temples, and abortion clinics), and also a founder of Concerned Christians for the First Amendment (which speaks out against Muslims and publishes anti-Muslim propaganda).
The admitted purpose of the film was to encourage protests against Muslims throughout the Middle East, and when it was shown on YouTube, violent protests did quickly spread to over twenty countries, including North Africa and Indonesia.
The White House requested Google, the owner of YouTube, to reconsider the anti-Islam video in light of its rules banning hate speech on YouTube. Google, however, determined that the video did not violate its terms of service regarding hate speech since it was against the Islam religion but not Muslim people.
YouTube's community guidelines state that the company encourages free speech and defends everyone's right to express unpopular points of view. Hate speech, which is prohibited, refers only to "content that promotes hatred against members of a protected group." In the way that "free speech" has been misused and corrupted today by corporations or by purveyors of hate, one would think that the message of this film would be a prime example of hate speech.
In the midst of this toxic brew an encouraging example of unity and peacemaking took place in Jersey City, N.J., on September 15. In a show of solidarity Coptic Christian and Muslim leaders came together at a mosque to urge Egyptians in the U.S. to stand together.
Rev. David Bebawi, a priest at St. George and St. Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church in Jersey City, announced that more than 50 Coptic priests from across the U.S. had signed a letter supporting the Muslim community and condemning the violent protests.
"Those who did this (the film) are not Christian," Bebawi told the gathering. "Those who killed the American ambassador and others are not Muslim."
Opinion
LION AND THE LAMB: Drinking a toxic brew
- Opinion
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LION AND THE LAMB: More than meets the eye
It was a quiet Saturday afternoon, and my wife Sheral suggested I join her on a shopping trip. In Crossville Sheral went inside a store and I stayed outside looking at the bargain specials. My mind was in neutral, so I almost missed the little boy’s question. He was about seven or eight, evidently had just seen his first Amish family, and they had seemed very strange to him.
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WE THE PEOPLE: No time to govern
Bob Dole’s tribute to George McGovern at the time of his death last year was both beautiful and touching. Speaking of the friendship they shared and the work they did together during their time in the Senate and later in retirement, Dole said McGovern “was one of the finest public servants I ever had the privilege to know.” He went on to say that they knew what they had in common was far more important than their different political philosophies.
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TIDBITS: Be wary of home improvement shows
Sometimes I think home improvement stores need a screening tool of some sort, perhaps some kind of licensing or reference check. For example, before one can walk in and buy that handy dandy table saw, they need three people to vouch that they aren’t likely to cut off a bodily appendage.
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STUMPTALK: Obama’s Benghazi betrayal
“Betrayal” is an ugly word. “To fail or desert especially in a time of need.” Those who pay attention to the actions of Obama are justified in saying we have been betrayed. Think about the IRS and DOJ debacles. Clearly our ambassador and his staff at the Benghazi consulate were betrayed, deserted in their time of mortal need. Obama allowed them to be murdered.
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Lion and the Lamb: When schools go beyond the three Rs
The three Rs, reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic, have always been at the foundation of education in Cumberland County. Recently, however, a fourth R has been added — religion. In permission was granted representatives of The Gideons International to distribute Bibles to fifth-graders in the Brown Elementary School in Crossville, and this took place April 11.
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We the People: Your vote — use it or lose it
A powerful faction within the Republican Party is determined to downsize our federal government. They want to reshape programs that originated to protect common folks like us.
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Stumptalk: The elephant in the room
I recently saw video footage of the president surrounded by the heads of all the services; they had assembled to address the continuing and scandalous problem of sexual harassment in the armed forces. The elephant in the room, of course, was young women in the military serving in close quarters with young men.
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We the People: Reality check, anyone?
Harry Truman had a birthday anniversary in early May. Harry was proud of being from the “show me” state. Republicans who aspire to stop all progress and set the clock back should take a lesson from Truman. He did something besides complain and obstruct progress.
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The Lion and the Lamb: The devil and the IRS
National news these past several weeks has focused on a scandal in the Internal Revenue Service. IRS agents have been targeting Tea Party and other conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. As this story developed over the past several weeks, however, it has become apparent that the IRS problem is much greater than the complaints raised by the Tea Party.
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Tidbits: What's in a name?
Being born in the time before routine ultrasounds, my parents thought I was going to be a boy. I'm not sure if mom was carrying high or low, or if the wedding ring on a string went one way or the other, or what other old wives tale was used to determine I would be a he rather than a she, but that's what they thought and that's how they prepared.
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