Sorry, my wannabe English/Comparative Literature-major tendencies wouldn’t let me bypass all this drama without making use of such an obvious pun. Apparently, I’m not the only one.

Truthfully though, I’m damn tired of the drama – of the emails, the articles, the conversations with friends regarding this mass chaos and fury all over the world. Also truthfully, I’m pissed off at Muslims who feel that engaging in such acts of violence (hurling gasoline bombs? smashing windshields? throwing missiles? Thanks, buddies, you’re really helping yourself and the rest of us look good) is justifiable. Calm the hell DOWN, people.

[For those of you who’ve been living under a rock lately, check this, there’s a wikipedia entry already, with a description of the cartoons in question here.]

So, not only because I’m tired of it all, but also because I’m not smart, analytical, and articulate enough to write up a real deal post on this topic, I’m sending you off with links yet again. Many of the weblogs I regularly frequent have already written about this, so go visit.

– Basit’s post is my favorite, because I’m feeling quite desensitized myself

– Yaser’s post is succint and to the point, something I always find admirable about him because I don’t have that quality, sadly

– Abhi at Sepia Mutiny: The Danish cartoon controversy: A contrast in protests

– Baraka at Truth&Beauty: Merry Go Round

– Safiyyah: Stupid Cartoons, Even Stupider Reaction

And for you slackers who are too lazy to click over to the weblogs I highlighted, here’s a beautifully apposite Rumi poem that Baraka appended to her abovementioned post:

When you see the face of anger
look behind it
and you will see the face of pride.
Bring anger and pride
under your feet, turn them into a ladder
and climb higher.
There is no peace until you become
their master.
Let go of anger, it may taste sweet
but it kills.
Don’t become its victim
you need humility to climb to freedom.

-Rumi

Off you go, children. Real post(s!) coming soon.