This week has dragged on and on even though it is well on its way to finishing. Ahhh the first week back... I do know this semester will be a lot more palatable though due to the multiple holidays that will break it up. Chinese new year and Easter holiday will both be upon me before I know it.
I am sitting in the office waiting to take part in a looong meeting where a few decisions will be made after much discussion.
Also, yesterday in Paris a group of jihadists attacked a satirical newspaper killing many and escaping into the chaos. Acts like these create a larger divide between the western culture and that of Eastern culture.
Westerners consider their ability to speak, believe, follow whatever they chose as the ultimate definition of freedom. Any attack on this freedom is then over reacted against on entire communities as a whole which only divides in equal proportions.
In the East this concept of absolute freedom is misunderstood and often unimaginable. In the same way the concept of certain things being untouchable and so virulently respected is unknown in the west.
The focus here in Indonesian newspapers seem to be that Hebdo had it coming to them for their history of abuses to all religions and strong held beliefs. The point is missed completely... People died over cartoons. Cartoons.
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people say things like "how would you feel if we disrespected Jesus, or nuns, or priests, etc?". I hate it, if I'm honest.
I remember there was a French artist who depicted the Virgin Mary in a sculpture of his own frozen urine. That affected me and annoyed me. However I would never kill him for it. The Westboro Baptist church angers me more than Neo Nazi goons at times and yet again I respect that they have the right to say what they believe. This is the separation between East and West.
The word Respect and Honor mean completely different things on opposite sides of the globe.
I am sitting in the office waiting to take part in a looong meeting where a few decisions will be made after much discussion.
Also, yesterday in Paris a group of jihadists attacked a satirical newspaper killing many and escaping into the chaos. Acts like these create a larger divide between the western culture and that of Eastern culture.
Westerners consider their ability to speak, believe, follow whatever they chose as the ultimate definition of freedom. Any attack on this freedom is then over reacted against on entire communities as a whole which only divides in equal proportions.
In the East this concept of absolute freedom is misunderstood and often unimaginable. In the same way the concept of certain things being untouchable and so virulently respected is unknown in the west.
The focus here in Indonesian newspapers seem to be that Hebdo had it coming to them for their history of abuses to all religions and strong held beliefs. The point is missed completely... People died over cartoons. Cartoons.
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people say things like "how would you feel if we disrespected Jesus, or nuns, or priests, etc?". I hate it, if I'm honest.
I remember there was a French artist who depicted the Virgin Mary in a sculpture of his own frozen urine. That affected me and annoyed me. However I would never kill him for it. The Westboro Baptist church angers me more than Neo Nazi goons at times and yet again I respect that they have the right to say what they believe. This is the separation between East and West.
The word Respect and Honor mean completely different things on opposite sides of the globe.
No comments:
Post a Comment