Another day, another riot by Muslims. I realize that "one million Muslims riot" is a great headline; and "999 million Muslims spend their day peacefully" is not. And it is difficult for me to assess which of these two headlines is more accurate, since I don't actually live in a Muslim country. So I have a suggestion.
I would like to see an Islamic charity, which responds to perceived acts of sacrilege or blasphemy. Every member (which I would hope becomes a substantial fraction of all Muslims) donates some amount each time there is such an incident - cartoons, burning of a Koran, offensive videos, whatever. The amount could be quite small; it could depend on income and circumstances; but it should be every time this happens. Those who feel particularly incensed could work the day in a green cap or headscarf, say, and donate their day's pay to the charity. Instead of spending it burning buildings and killing people.
The response to a specific incident could be as simple as printing more Korans, to ensure the number never decreases; issuing press releases condemning the insults; organizing peaceful mass actions - imagine a few million letters sent to a newspaper explaining why their cartoons are offensive (not that this latest one needed much explanation as far as I know). What it should not include is calls for violence.
All of this would be pretty cheap to run. There would be a lot of money left over. This is the point; the extra money could be used to build schools and hospitals in the poorest and most neglected parts of the Islamic world (or anywhere that would get press coverage, frankly).
The benefits of this are manifold:
Imagine that next time some idiot pastor decides to burn a Koran, the Muslim world replies that it is deeply offended and is working off its righteous anger by building a hospital. How embarrassing for the pastor; that the best he can think of to do is burn books when his targets are helping the desperate. What a permanent rebuke to him - a hospital for the needy.
I said I don't live in a Muslim country. I don't want to, either. I don't feel that it would be safe - for all that far more people are killed in traffic accidents in my city than get killed by mobs worldwide. Traffic accidents are a steady background, but mobs grow exponentially. A Muslim world that collectively announced in such a public and sincere way that it was peaceful would raise my opinion of it greatly. At the moment the view I have of them is summed up by Sam Harris - "We're a peaceful religion and we'll kill anyone who says we aren't". It may be inaccurate, but all I know is what I read.
Indeed, my reading of the Koran is that Mohamed would have greatly approved of this charity, although I am well aware that some parts of it suggest he would have engaged in both the charity and the violence - the translation I read contained the phrase "make wide slaughter" far too often for comfort.
At the moment the hot-heads on both sides are feeding on this stuff. Some troll in the west publishes anti-Muslim propaganda and decries Islam as violent and thuggish. And some shock-jock in the Islamic world uses it to whip up a frenzy, resulting in riots. The troll points to the riots; the shock-jock points to the propaganda; the uncivilized win, and the rest of us lose.
It would be wonderful if "the rest of us" could push them into the margins where they can wither for lack of attention.
I would like to see an Islamic charity, which responds to perceived acts of sacrilege or blasphemy. Every member (which I would hope becomes a substantial fraction of all Muslims) donates some amount each time there is such an incident - cartoons, burning of a Koran, offensive videos, whatever. The amount could be quite small; it could depend on income and circumstances; but it should be every time this happens. Those who feel particularly incensed could work the day in a green cap or headscarf, say, and donate their day's pay to the charity. Instead of spending it burning buildings and killing people.
The response to a specific incident could be as simple as printing more Korans, to ensure the number never decreases; issuing press releases condemning the insults; organizing peaceful mass actions - imagine a few million letters sent to a newspaper explaining why their cartoons are offensive (not that this latest one needed much explanation as far as I know). What it should not include is calls for violence.
All of this would be pretty cheap to run. There would be a lot of money left over. This is the point; the extra money could be used to build schools and hospitals in the poorest and most neglected parts of the Islamic world (or anywhere that would get press coverage, frankly).
The benefits of this are manifold:
- People not being killed. Especially innocent people who had nothing to do with whatever the original insult was.
- Buildings not being burnt down.
- Much-needed infrastructure being built for the poorest of the world.
- A great moral example, pressuring the violent to instead channel their anger into work.
- An example to point at for the rest of the world, that most Muslims are not howling fanatical thugs, but ordinary people who would just like a little respect.
- Earning that respect.
Imagine that next time some idiot pastor decides to burn a Koran, the Muslim world replies that it is deeply offended and is working off its righteous anger by building a hospital. How embarrassing for the pastor; that the best he can think of to do is burn books when his targets are helping the desperate. What a permanent rebuke to him - a hospital for the needy.
I said I don't live in a Muslim country. I don't want to, either. I don't feel that it would be safe - for all that far more people are killed in traffic accidents in my city than get killed by mobs worldwide. Traffic accidents are a steady background, but mobs grow exponentially. A Muslim world that collectively announced in such a public and sincere way that it was peaceful would raise my opinion of it greatly. At the moment the view I have of them is summed up by Sam Harris - "We're a peaceful religion and we'll kill anyone who says we aren't". It may be inaccurate, but all I know is what I read.
Indeed, my reading of the Koran is that Mohamed would have greatly approved of this charity, although I am well aware that some parts of it suggest he would have engaged in both the charity and the violence - the translation I read contained the phrase "make wide slaughter" far too often for comfort.
At the moment the hot-heads on both sides are feeding on this stuff. Some troll in the west publishes anti-Muslim propaganda and decries Islam as violent and thuggish. And some shock-jock in the Islamic world uses it to whip up a frenzy, resulting in riots. The troll points to the riots; the shock-jock points to the propaganda; the uncivilized win, and the rest of us lose.
It would be wonderful if "the rest of us" could push them into the margins where they can wither for lack of attention.
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