So some more people have died in some more countries about these cartoons. I have learned more since my last post on this subject. Not about the cartoons or about the situation, but more about us as a people.
I believe more and more that we are simply aching for a fight. There was a part of me that used to think that maybe we were just getting too crowded and nature was attempting to thin the herd. Yesterday I heard that someone had discovered a place in Indonesia that had never been discovered before. It is said to have 100’s of new species and breeds of flora and fauna. That kind of gave my “too crowded” theory a reality check.
It’s ironic how my personal (romantic) life seems to be doing so good just as I seem to notice how bad things really are. I guess I should go on the belief that as long as “my life” is good then “life” is good. I thought I had learned a long time ago to not to care for my so-called “fellow man”. I guess not. I catch myself raising my voice at times when I am concerned about a subject. I know there have been times in the past where I yell more out of concern than out of anger. I feel sorry but I sound mad. I am sure that this has led to some confusion in me dealing with some personal and family problems. Even now with my significant other I catch myself. In all the habits that I want to break I think this is one of the biggest. I wonder at times though if I am the only one who has this problem.
So often our family dynamic works on the “the loudest is right” principal. How is it that we can realize how wrong this is on a global scale but we can not see it when it is down at eye level. I guess it’s that “forest for the trees” saying.
You’ll notice that all of these riots take place where there are other Islamic / Muslim problems already present. I think this simple cartoon is bringing focus of these people to a “common problem” they can deal with rather than the problems in their life that they can not deal with. This is similar to the way some Dads might carry over anger from “wife problems” to the failure their child to do their homework. They yell loudly and act aggressively as a way to relieve the tension from other problems.
The leaders of these other areas of the rioter’s lives will gladly avert that tension to somewhere anywhere else. I have seen a few wives who would go to the child after dad did his yelling and say something along the lines of “see what you did?” knowing the whole time they are the real reason for the anger.
I believe that societies and cultures think and act much the ways as individuals. I think that we can learn much of how our cultures act together by viewing how individuals interact. Of course it’s bigger so it’s slower but the actions seem very similar to me. It’s almost as though we as individuals are the individual thoughts going through a larger being’s brain. Some work from the conscious (government) and some from the subconscious (people). It’s hard to tell which ones will carry the weight in the decision making process. I don't know which is more important over all but I will say that a lot of people believe that “enlightenment” is when both are brought together.
