Blog Post 3

I am not sure what “Sam Bacile” was thinking releasing this video. The only way I can see this in a vaguely positive light is if he merely meant to expose the hypocrisies in the stories of Mohammed (with which, I am afraid, I am not at all familiar). In addition, I suppose he could have meant this as a criticism of the Islamic tradition of revering Mohammed as a prophet, to the point of forbidding physical representations of him. In this way, he would be no different from other people who make similar social commentary, such as Matt Stone and Trey Parker when they made their Broadway musical the Book of Mormon, or people who criticize the Bible (by, for example, pointing out how many people God killed versus how many the devil killed). If he were trying to do this, it wouldn’t be intended as an insult of the Islamic tradition, but rather as a questioning of the ideals therein.

After briefly researching Coptic Christians, though, I think I can see a simpler motivation – tensions have been rising between Muslims and the Coptics due to attacks from militant Islamic extremists and discrimination. Perhaps this is “Bacile’s” way of getting back at the Muslims for the oppression of his Middle Eastern brothers.

For Terry Jones, I believe his motivations are quite clear. He is famously (or infamously, depending on your inclination) anti-Muslim, and burned copies of the Quran on the 9th anniversary of 9/11, and following the attack on the Libyan embassy, declared that he would screen the trailer for the film.

Before playing the believing game, I would like to say that I find the movie and Terry Jones insulting, and especially Jones absolutely offensive.

Now, as to possible explanations for his actions, perhaps, in his view, the Muslim faith is to blame for the terrorist attacks, and so he feels perfectly justified professing his anti-Muslim view.