Hate is in the eyes of the beholder

Submitted by Claude Poliakoff (United States), Sep 24, 2012 at 16:16

Hate is in the eyes of the beholder. We clearly have to deal with cross cultural perceptions, unless we are willing to sacrifice more western lives, in the name of free speech. After 9/11, a stunning Pakistani quote appeared in the news. "A mullah is infinitely more dangerous than any hooligan". What awesome cultural insight. Christopher Hitchens observed that of the main monotheistic faiths, only Islam hasn't undergone a reformation. Hence the persistence of incredibly virulent fundamentalism.

There is no magic solution to dealing with fundamentalists of any stripe. It has taken many centuries for the western world to recognize the mythology of ancient civilizations. Given that fundamentalism, of any creed, is fundamentally evil in it's rigidity, it will take another eon to acknowledge the mythology & control of fellow men/women behind current theology. A ray of hope should be appreciated from the recent news report of Libyan protests against the militia that perpetrated the obscene attack on our consulate in Benghazi

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