Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Ignorance is Bliss... Except for the Ignored



"When u attack Black people, theycall it racism. When u attack Jewish people, they call it anti-semetism. When u attack women, they call it sexism.When u attack homosexuality,they call it intolerance. When u attack a Country, theycall it treason.When u attack a religious sect, they call it...hate..But when they...attack the... Prophet Mohammed, they call itfreedom of speech!! (make it your status if you care)"  - Facebook status madness.


Today, I will be touching on a sensitive issue. And I will make a point here and now that this is not a religious argument but a social one. Bear with me. Keep your zealotry under your belt till you finish reading this.

The above statement is taking the rather conservative Muslim Facebook community in Volgograd by storm. Every other person of that persuasion, it seems, posted it or a variation of it as their status. Now, I believe in every person's right to voice their opinion and I believe that those posters think their views are right. I'm not saying they're wrong, here, understand?

What I am saying is simply this:

We give power to a problem by recognizing it. Without our acknowledgment, the said problem has no dominance, no presence.

Consider:
According to Islamic history, Muhammad was ridiculed and was hurled all kinds of shits, even literal ones. Did he beat his chest and cry out to his people of the injustice that was done to him? No, he ignored the harassment and this only ignited the fury and frustration of the torturers and increased his prestige and standing amongst believers and non-believers alike.

Consider:
Standing before the Pharisees and Pilate, the Bible says Jesus said no words, replied nothing to the accusations these people threw and confronted him with. His reward: people deified him and vilified the others.

Consider:
King Henry the VIII of England ignored the Pope's decree that his divorce was unlawful. He was threatened with excommunication. Did he care? No. He even went a step further and created the Church of England. As a result, people began to see that there is nothing substantial, at least in the material world, in the Pope's threats and the political power of the Vatican waned to nothingness that it is today.



Consider:
The Germans were fucked up royally politically and economically after the Second World War. The Jews, too, during the said war. Afterward, some of those Jews who had ulterior motives or just didn't know any better played up the Holocaust and the suffering of the Jews. They shouted to all of those who would listen and even some that wouldn't: "Look at us! Pity us! We were done a great injustice!"

A fact, which, by all accounts, is a true statement in my book. But it annoyed people greatly. The Germans, on the other hand, were quiet, accepted their fate and went on with their lives.

Now, see: What is the racial and racist stereotype for Jews? How about Germans? How many anti-Semites are there today compared to anti-Germans? Except for people directly affected by the war, I never heard any anti-Germanism.

If anything, more admired the Germans for their ability to rebuild and become an important player in the game we call World Politics.

Consider:
If the Dane's cartoon was not attacked by the Muslim community, would it not have fallen to obscurity, like so many of its predecessors?

Let me reiterate here that I see the caricature as a sign of utmost disrespect to a person of such high prestige. I disagree with it completely as did the rest of the Muslim community and some of those not of the belief. But we gave power to the cartoon with our death threats.

Others who did not really care about Muhammad joined in with the Dane, they're protecting their right to free speech. More anti-Islamic caricatures and articles went up online and in print in matter of days.

One can view that, ultimately, it was the Muslims, who are responsible for the sharp rise of anti-Mohammedan tendencies in the press after the Dane's initial fuckup.


This has been my unwanted two cents. Good night.

P.s. If one were to argue that the Dane's caricature is a comment on the qualities of contemporary Muslims instead of those of the Prophet, one would have a valid point. After all, among the first reactions were death threats from Muftis all over the world.


P.p.s. This coincide with the 36th Law of Power

2 comments:

Saidatul Madiha Abd Rahim said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fuzzy A! said...

Johan Ariff bin Juhari likes Saidatul Madiha Abd Rahim.