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Martina · 09-19-2012, 11:52 PM

There was an article in Al Jazeera by an American academic describing the U.S. as an outlier where protection of speech is concerned. LINK

I don't know. I firmly believe in free speech. I am grateful for it. Remember Mappelthorpe? If we didn't have these protections, we would always be fighting with fundamentalists of all stripes to be able express ourselves.

I still can't get past the fact that in the case of this film, it was made by members of an oppressed minority of a Muslim country. We are asked to look at the consequences of our bad actions in the region. I think it's only fair to ask others to do the same.

I guess this isn't rational. But it has tested me a little. One thing that helped was a story on NPR about a twitter thread called #MuslimRage. It reminded me how small these protests really are and how unrepresentative. LINK

Anyway, the green on blue attacks are hard to process. As I hear and read more about them, I still just don't understand. It is a cultural gulf too wide for me to reach across. How can a soldier showing you pictures of his wife or blowing his nose in front of you enrage you to the point of shooting him? But of course there's more to it. One of our drones killed how many women and children this week?

One commentator today was saying that there is a lot of conflict within the Afghan security forces also, so their folks are already on edge.

09-19-2012, 11:52 PM	#50
Martina Senior Member How Do You Identify?: * Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: * Posts: 4,999 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 13,409 Thanked 18,284 Times in 4,167 Posts Rep Power: 21474854	There was an article in Al Jazeera by an American academic describing the U.S. as an outlier where protection of speech is concerned. LINK I don't know. I firmly believe in free speech. I am grateful for it. Remember Mappelthorpe? If we didn't have these protections, we would always be fighting with fundamentalists of all stripes to be able express ourselves. I still can't get past the fact that in the case of this film, it was made by members of an oppressed minority of a Muslim country. We are asked to look at the consequences of our bad actions in the region. I think it's only fair to ask others to do the same. I guess this isn't rational. But it has tested me a little. One thing that helped was a story on NPR about a twitter thread called #MuslimRage. It reminded me how small these protests really are and how unrepresentative. LINK Anyway, the green on blue attacks are hard to process. As I hear and read more about them, I still just don't understand. It is a cultural gulf too wide for me to reach across. How can a soldier showing you pictures of his wife or blowing his nose in front of you enrage you to the point of shooting him? But of course there's more to it. One of our drones killed how many women and children this week? One commentator today was saying that there is a lot of conflict within the Afghan security forces also, so their folks are already on edge.