Worldwide, there are many cultures of "righteous" rage - cultures where rage and hatred are incited, encouraged, fostered as righteous. I think of the recent slaughter in Rwanda, the genocide in in Darfor, the Nazi massacre of millions of Jews, the nineteenth century outrage at women who wanted to vote and slaves who wanted freedom. I will write mainly of one small incident.
The time is September, 2005. A Danish newspaper publishes cartoons allegedly making fun of the Muslim prophet Mohammed. I didn't see them because the Canadian press decided they were too offensive, and because I didn't try hard. I was much more interested in the Muslim response. Actually, saying I was "interested" is putting things too mildly. The widespread Muslim response pushed some of my buttons, as did the widespread supposedly neutral reporting of this response in both the Canadian and American media.
Here's a recap and then my ideas on the situation - ending with an update to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and Hezbollah bombing of Israel. But I will start in September 2005.
