Well guess what time it is? Actually it’s way overdue but WHATEVER. It is time for a month in review.
This month has been a bit more crazy than previous months. There was the attack I mentioned earlier; then soon after that YouTube video that came out insulting Muhammad. As you can imagine, things have been pretty locked down over here. I would like to take some time to say a few things about that video.
First of all, I am a big proponent of free speech. That DOES include speech like this video. The author of this video (ignoring any restrictions he may have had on him due to other offenses) absolutely has the right to create a video like this. I applaud YouTube (thus Google) for acknowledging this fact and not taking the video down. HOWEVER, just because you have a right to do something, does not make it right! This great nation, the United States of America, was founded on freedoms… freedoms I will fight for. It does mean that some will abuse said rights. That is an unfortunate necessary evil to preserve these great freedoms. Once you start chiseling away at these rights, banning something you do not agree with, you break the entire foundation on which these rights were founded. So yes people can publish completely offensive material and, although I may thoroughly disagree with the message, I will always stand up for their right to produce said material. This may be a pamphlet promoting Nazism, a book teaching child predators how to seduce children, or a video completely insulting a religion. That is the price of freedom.
That said I do condemn this video. I also believe that the man behind the video IS ABSOLUTELY partially to blame for the deaths during the protests over this video. Words can be more powerful that any sword or gun. Just because one didn’t pull the trigger doesn’t mean one can claim to be innocent. That is a very naïve way of thinking. Actions have consequences. The blood of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith (or ‘Vile Rat’ of GoonSwarm as he was known in Eve Online. He was a very prominent player, a diplomat in game, and known by almost everyone, including me, that plays. Most had no idea of his position in real life though.), the rest of the Embassy Staff that was killed, and everyone else injured or killed in the protests are on that man’s hands. In addition he jeopardized many more lives, people like the brave men and women in the military over here risking their lives so that that man can RETAIN his freedoms. Was it worth it? Actions have consequences.
Of course the men participating in the attack are also to blame. It was a video by one man, yet they blame the entire country and kill innocent lives. They absolutely have the right to protest but so many went way too far. At that point they become nothing more than criminals, thugs, and murderers. Yet many demand an official apology from President Obama. Apologize for what? Obama didn’t make the video, in fact he condemned it. There is no reason and nothing Obama can apologize for. They also call for the man to be punished. Again for what? I remember one statement that attempted to justify the protests by asking how the American people would feel if films were created insulting Christian figures or historical figures like Abraham Lincoln. This statement just shows how little they understand about American life. We absolutely value the freedom to express whatever you want, whether we like it or not. In fact comedy shows like South Park mock all kinds of things like this all the time. Also it just so happens that a movie is coming out, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Which I do want to see BTW). Can you imagine if ‘Muhammad, Zombie Hunter’ came out? It just shows how far off their way of thinking is compared to true freedoms. >_<
So yah… that’s that. In other news I am now 2/3s done! I finished the Legend of Zelda game I have been playing at night. That was an awesome game. I never had a chance to play it on the Nintendo64 and am glad I finally got to play it on my 3DS. Back then it was way ahead of its time. I started on a new game, one of the Kingdom Hearts games. For those of you that do not know what Kingdom Hearts is, it is kinda heard to explain. Basically two companies got together, Disney and Japanese gaming company Square Enix (popular for RPG series like their Final Fantasy series) and created a game (and later a series of games) where every movie or show by Disney and every game by Square Enix is in its own “world”. These worlds are under attack by the Heartless. You, the hero, have your world completely destroyed by the heartless at the beginning of the first game. You take up the Keyblade and must journey through all these different worlds to save them and achieve your goal while also killing any heartless on the way. One moment you might be sailing on the seas and meet one Captain Jack Sparrow, then the next fall into the digital world of Tron, or find yourself in a dark castle run by a true Beast and all the servants having been changed to things like a clock or a candle holder by some dark magic. You might meet characters like Cloud from Final Fantasy or a fairy called Tinker Bell that can make you fly. It is a pretty awesome series of games, and they have become immensely popular.
Well that is about it for this month… until next time!
~David
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