How are you faring through about it with the children? I mean their questions. I am not sure how much its getting into the heads of the kids in West but here in Pakistan, where a holiday has been announced tomorrow, and I dont know how the issue has been communicated to them there, but I find it difficult and uncomfortable to talk to children about it. The questions they raise, like, where is there a holiday tomorrow (because we dont have a holiday on friday) or more than that, why wouldnt the youtube work? since they watch their cartoons there, and man I have no possible answers. I cant tell them plainly that we have a holiday tomorrow because some two cursed people made fun of the precious most personality of ours and we want to show our disapproval by going on a holiday (whereas I think we should have added a workday rather if we were really that ghairat mand, how a holiday should express our distress if something baffling for me).
So, are you people dealing with the questions too? and how do you answer your kids about it. Please share.
Don't have that issue yet, because my kids are small and we don't live in Pakistan.
If I was in your situation, I would lay it out straight to them. Tell them why the government is giving us a day off and why Youtube is not working. I would however also make clear to them that I do not agree with that government action. I would not want my kids to grow up and just accept everything "those people up there" tell them to do, regardless of whether it makes sense or not. How you word that "open conversation" with your kids depends on how old they are.
^ Makes more sense when phrased in this way. I hope they remain peaceful protests and the masses have their agony channelized in a civilized manner. Dont expect much but hope so anyway :hinna:
My kids have no knowledge of this movie. To tell you the truth, I don’t either.
However, if they did, this is what I would say: Kids, there are good people in this world and bad people in this world. Sometimes things we don’t like happen. Some things are in our control and some things are not. Let’s focus on what is in our control, such as our beliefs and practices, and pray that Allah gives us to be just to all his creations.
Or, maybe if I haven’t slept to well and haven’t had my daily morning coffee, I’d say: Kids, crap happens. Go to school and focus on your studies and being good.
Or maybe, it’s not really the kids I need to talk to but the adults in my community to first educate themselves and changing their homes and communities before trying to change the world and look foolish.
Worse would be to do nothing ... The authorities anticipated some major venting ... If they didn't make it seem that they were helping the cause of the protest then they would be part of the problem in the eyes of the mobs. To mitigate their own risk and risk to government property they had to give something like a gesture to the mobs. This day off is a type of "we're on your side", statement, but in reality it is a "better close shop, it's gonna get rough", statement.
The best message to give to the kids is the real way to protest and how losing our cool is interpreted and used against us in th media. You have the power to change mindset being a school teacher ... So do it! So our upcoming generations are better than ours.
I don't know about other schools but in my son' s school they discuss weekly news as social studies, and he was telling me " mama my teacher was telling me some bad guy released a video against Mohammad (saw) and Muslims are protesting." then my husband explained to him too much protesting is not right, people shouldn't kill and put things on fire, it's bad anger and shaitaan, we should talk peaceful. He also told my son that guy is not right also, we shouldn't be making fun of other people religions.
Worse would be to do nothing ... The authorities anticipated some major venting ... If they didn't make it seem that they were helping the cause of the protest then they would be part of the problem in the eyes of the mobs. To mitigate their own risk and risk to government property they had to give something like a gesture to the mobs. This day off is a type of "we're on your side", statement, but in reality it is a "better close shop, it's gonna get rough", statement.
The best message to give to the kids is the real way to protest and how losing our cool is interpreted and used against us in th media. You have the power to change mindset being a school teacher ... So do it! So our upcoming generations are better than ours.
Err its not about my students. Those are adult enough. Like teenagers already. Its about the niece and nephew of mine. They are like 7 and 6. Of the age when the nephew was asking someone yesterday, if the toy chickens really grow? So you can imagine they are too children to understand any sensible point. I just found it better not to communicate on the issue.
Psyah has a point. I felt angry when I came to know about the holiday announced earlier but maybe it was a wise decision on its own. The mobs are really angry and since they do not know any better, they get even more violent when do not see being heard anywhere.
It is obviously agonizing to no ends to be helpless and not being able to do anything when our sacred most personality is insulted. But just as some wise minds here pointed out, highlighting the issue is only aggravating our own pain. They have one weakness of ours, they know they hit us there and we jump back.
Can you imagine USA or the West giving a national holiday to bash Islam, Muslims or Pakistanis?
This is beyond stupid.
I think USA should cut off of all the military, economic and financial aid to Pakistan and stop issuing Visas to Pakistanis.
No, but I can imagine them putting riot police in places around the country, barriers and draw up routes for the demonstrations. They will harm business in a mild way and some companies may give their employees a day off to avoid hassle of travel constraints.
This national measure for a day off should not be viewed like a holiday .... It is a calculated decision ... They know their mobs. There are a lot of people who are angry and many blame their anger on the government ...
One stupid person with a shoddy camera and a few minutes clips is more powerful then entire muslim ummah.
Its a shame than west has so much power over you guys.
If a two bit director with few mins clips creates such a madness then I wonder what would happen when someone intelligent makes a main stream real intelligent movie about the same issue? like da vinchi code or angels or demons , you know its going to happen some day.
One stupid person with a shoddy camera and a few minutes clips is more powerful then entire muslim ummah.
Its a shame than west has so much power over you guys.
If a two bit director with few mins clips creates such a madness then I wonder what would happen when someone intelligent makes a main stream real intelligent movie about the same issue? like da vinchi code or angels or demons , you know its going to happen some day.
Peace kaka_in_usa
This is not a single person ... It is an enterprise devised to dilute religion ... It has been here from the beginning of religion and the religious have always been ridiculed ... If not for the beliefs then for the fact that we are so sensitive. Let us be sensitive ... It shows how much we do actually love our prophet Muhammad (SAW) ... One thing the others will never understand ... Is that we love Allah and His Rasool more than ourselves. The fact of this I know not only confuses you, but also annoys you. You are so incapable of displaying your annoyance you seek instead to ridicule us or those like you seek to ridicule our prophet (SAW) ...
^^ Trust me, it is a single person. people who are proponent of freedom of speech have no leader. every man speaks for himself and acts in its own capacity.
Religion should be immune to ridicule. it should be rightly made fun of so it can be tested. I know you love your prophet, so you should show that to the world. they will respect it. but right now these people are only showing that how much insecure they are and how much they hate everything western. Show the love, not the hate.
