On the Serendipity of Aggressive Imbecility — the Chain of Causation that Led to the Sad Deaths of American Ambassador Christopher Stevens and Colleagues in Libya

12-13 September 2012

Aggressive imbecility’s reign on human affairs is well illustrated by the circumstances that led to the unnecessary deaths of American Ambassador Christopher Stevens and colleagues

This is a story about how aggressively stupid and deliberately vicious people cause the deaths of their significantly more evolved human peers.

Ambassador Stevens and three staff members were reportedly killed in an attack on the American consulate in Libya yesterday. Muslim protestors also breached the walls of the American embassy in Cairo.

The reported background to these events simultaneously illustrates:

(i) how murderously and provocatively stupid humanity is

and

(ii) how incredibly foolish events, for which “we” are not all responsible, can come back to kill us.

This is the Serendipity of Aggressive Imbecility.

On the peculiar chain of causation underlying these honorable deaths

This particular outbreak of murderous imbecility mixed:

quasi-moron and apparent financial criminal and Coptic Christian, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (AKA, “Sam Bacile”)

his atrociously scripted and acted pseudo-movie, Innocence of Muslims

a provocative Egyptian fellow Coptic Christian, named Morris Sadek

Koran-burning Christian pastor, Terry Jones

and

100 dumb-behind, allegedly “Jewish” donors

with

(blameless) YouTube.com

and

a seemingly bottomless supply of murderous Muslim pinheads.

Most Americans will probably see these deaths as Islamic extremists’ over-reaction to free speech.

But I think the circumstances contain a more subtle and spiritually important message.

First, the initially reported facts — from the Wall Street Journal — and apparently verified by other sources, including Al Jazeera and the Associated Press

According to Matt Bradley and Dion Nissenbaum, writing in the Wall Street Journal, allegedly Israeli-American California real estate developer and filmmaker, “Sam Bacile,” decided to satirize Islam’s prophet Mohammed in a film called Innocence of Muslims.

YouTube trailers of this really badly scripted and acted film can be seen here, here, and here:

The flashpoint appeared to be the film about the Prophet Muhammad, portions of which in recent days have been circulating on the Internet.

Contravening the Islamic prohibition of portraying the prophet, clips from the film show him not only as flesh and blood—but as a homosexual son of undetermined patrimony, who rises to advocate child slavery and extramarital sex, for himself, in the name of religion.

© 2012 Matt Bradley and Dion Nissenbaum, U.S. Missions Stormed in Libya, Egypt — Movie Critical of Prophet Muhammad Spurs Attack in Benghazi, Killing American; Protesters Breach Wall of Cairo Compound, Wall Street Journal (11 September 2012)

According to the allegedly unrepentedly idiotic Mr. Bacile, the film’s $5 million dollar cost was financed by approximately 100 Jewish donors.

The Journal further notes that the movie was promoted in the United States by:

(i) American fundamentalist Christian Pastor Terry Jones (of equally insulting Koran-burning fame)

and

(ii) Egyptian Coptic Morris Sadek, living in the United States, and his National American Coptic Assembly.

Regarding the latter, the Journal reported that:

Coptic leaders from around the world denounced the film and its portrayal of Islam.

© 2012 © 2012 Matt Bradley and Dion Nissenbaum, U.S. Missions Stormed in Libya, Egypt — Movie Critical of Prophet Muhammad Spurs Attack in Benghazi, Killing American; Protesters Breach Wall of Cairo Compound, Wall Street Journal (11 September 2012)

The following day, the Associated Press reported that “Sam Bacile” was actually Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a California Coptic Christian

Eileen Sullivan and Stephen Braun wrote that:

A federal law enforcement official said Thursday that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was the man behind "Innocence of Muslims," a film denigrating Islam and the Prophet Muhammad that sparked protests earlier in the week in Egypt and Libya and now in Yemen.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity . . . said Nakoula was connected to the persona of Sam Bacile, a figure who initially claimed to be the writer and director of the film.

But Bacile quickly turned out to a false identity and the Associated Press traced a cellphone number used by Bacile to a southern California house where Nakoula was found.

Bacile initially claimed a Jewish and Israeli background. But others involved in the film said his statements were contrived as evidence mounted that the film's key player was a southern Californian Coptic Christian with a checkered past.

Nakoula denied that he was Bacile and insisted he did not direct the film, though he said he knew Bacile.

But federal court papers filed against Nakoula in a 2010 criminal prosecution said that he had used numerous aliases in the past.

Among the fake names, the documents said, were Nicola Bacily, Robert Bacily and Erwin Salameh, all similar to the Sam Bacile persona.

In essence, a bunch of trash-talking, brain-dead provocateurs got an honorable man and his courageous protectors killed for no good reason

This is not just about free speech.

There is a spiritual component, as well. It speaks badly of the ethics-challenged cretins who contributed to this particular expression of humanity’s penchant for violent blood-letting.

The film-makers’ sheer nastiness of spirit

Those who contributed to the making of Innocence of Muslims were not interested in persuading Muslims to see the alleged “error” of their ways. After all, one does not initiate such a conversation by insulting an entire people’s intelligence or their revered Prophet.

The YouTube trailers for this film make it clear that this was exclusively a mean-spirited exercise in shoveling contempt on one of the world’s major religions, whose heritage is no more rationally absurd than any other.

In effect, these “Sam Bacile”-supporting clowns allegedly spent $5 million dollars — which seems a lot for the atrocious quality of the purported film — to indulge the viciousness that scars their souls.

Yaweh and Jesus would not be proud.

More subtly — beyond the right to free speech is our duty to each other

The American Libyan consulate deaths resulted from the above-listed fools’ inability to properly prioritize rights against moral duties. The human web, which constantly impacts us as individuals, sometimes limits our ethical right to flap our lips in volatile situations.

What we do or say here can affect someone else, there.

Considering the possible consequences of our actions and words is spiritually wise practice, at least to the degree that probable results can be rationally foreseen.

In this case, wiser souls would more thoroughly have considered their film’s purpose in light of the probability that it would accomplish something beneficial, or at least not harmful.

From a spiritual perspective, if real-world benefit is most probably going to be lacking, then refraining from the endeavor would be wise.

Being provocative for its own sake is usually morally questionable. That is why excessively self-righteous people are such pains in the butt. They seem unable to see beyond the boundaries of their narcissism.

On spiritual nuance

“Evolved” souls recognize that simplistic answers to difficult questions do not exist. There are vanishingly few quasi-absolutes and even those have to be radically tempered in some situations.

Intelligence and heart are ultimately about subtleties — and our ability to react wisely to morally important twists, when they arise.

An example of moral nuance — the right to speak freely versus other people’s wish to be free of our slams

To what degree should we indulge our right to free speech versus other people’s wish to be free of what we have to say?

Under ordinary American circumstances, this dilemma does not arise often. We are accustomed to outrageous comments from other people. When we disagree, we often take refuge in thinking of them as idiots, or worse.

But even we have our sensitivities. Most of us detest flag-burners. Many millions would be deeply offended, if someone paraded around slandering Jesus.

Which, of course, segues into the “Bacile” film’s egregious slander of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.

Whether to soft-step around other people’s sensitivities is a moral question. We are hostages to each other in often unseen, but important ways.

Civility and peace often require that we keep our tactlessly expressed judgments to ourselves for the good of the whole.

Free speech — not as simple as it first appears to be

Ambassador Stevens and his protectors knowingly and courageously went into circumstances in which they probably knew untoward happenings, for which they bore no responsibility, could take their lives.

And I further imagine that Ambassador Stevens and his crew would still pronounce themselves ready to die in support of free speech and liberty.

But that is not the ultimate spiritual point.

These Americans’ willingness to die for our provocative cowardice does not give us moral license to put them in that position.

“Sam Bacile’s” artlessly violence provoking film — in moral perspective

Not many would question Mr. “Bacile’s” American right to satirize Islam, even badly. Nor the rights of others to support and promote his film.

But I question the group’s moral wisdom and worth in doing so.

Whom was this film going to convert? It trash-spoke only to the already converted. Its nasty hostility had no chance at all of persuading even questioning Muslims to overthrow their heritage.

On a more nuanced level, one has to wonder about the spiritual and geopolitical wisdom of making America’s policy abroad more difficult to accomplish.

The message in Innocence of Muslims could not have been better crafted to deeply offend Islam.

The film’s alleged message about Islamic violence deliberately provoked the very thing it was complaining about. Previous Islamic reactions to Salmon Rushdie and Denmark’s insulting cartoons had already established that revenge, taken in pursuit of maintaining the purity of Islam, is not seen as a vice in that part of the world.

Consequently, Mr. Nakoula/Bacile and Mr.Sadek (Coptic Christians), Pastor Jones (Evangelical Christian), and the anonymous film-financing 100 alleged “Jews” all did their best to intentionally inflame the very people that the United States is trying ineffectually to pacify.

This film-supporting group (of unproductively nasty and arguably cowardly ideologues) made the job of American troops and diplomats that much more difficult. Witness the American Libyan consulate deaths and the breach of our Cairo embassy.

The most significant moral question (in all this) is whether one has the right to provoke the very murdering violence about which one is complaining. My own answer is “no.”

Mr. Nakoula-Bacile et al. are the equivalent of a police officer intentionally provoking a hostage-taker into killing the people he has captured, so as to prove that the hostage-taker was indeed of murderous inclination.

There are times when we become directly responsible for the actions of those whom we intentionally and foreseeably provoke.

Am I being unfair? — probably not, the cowardly, responsibility-ducking “Sam Bacile” went into hiding

From the Associated Press:

An Israeli filmmaker based in California went into hiding after a YouTube trailer of his movie attacking Islam's prophet Muhammad sparked angry assaults by ultra-conservative Muslims on U.S. missions in Egypt and Libya. The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three American members of his staff were killed.

Speaking by phone Tuesday from an undisclosed location, writer and director Sam Bacile remained defiant, saying Islam is a cancer and that the 56-year-old intended his film to be a provocative political statement condemning the religion.

Libyan officials said Wednesday that Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed Tuesday night when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff as the building came under attack by a mob firing machine guns and rocket propelled grenades.

Though Bacile was apologetic about the American who was killed as a result of the outrage over his film, he blamed lax embassy security and the perpetrators of the violence.

"I feel the security system (at the embassies) is no good," said Bacile. "America should do something to change it."

“Bacile’s” statement about lax embassy security tells us all we need to know about his responsibility-avoiding yellow streak. The fact that the following day he pretended not to be himself looks even worse.

We will not see him, or his spineless kind, on a Marine or Army patrol in Afghanistan.

Apparently Nakoula-Bacile’s lip-flapping personal ethos makes it okay to put other people in harm’s way for his ethically obtuse abuse of American freedoms.

The moral? — Courageously honorable people die, upholding the rights of the vicious scum who live among us

I sadly salute Ambassador Christopher Stevens and his fallen protectors.

For Nakoula-Bacile, Morris Sadek, Terry Jones, and their allegedly 100 anonymous financial supporters, I have only moral contempt.

Of the Islamic pinheads, who killed the American consulate officers, I can only say that their unreasoning inability to see beyond the ends of their ignorant Medieval noses only proved their detractors’ point.

It is too bad that we cannot send this entire lot of spiritually obtuse people, and their fellow-travelers, straight to long sentences in morality-teaching purgatory.

PeteFree.com

On the Serendipity of Aggressive Imbecility — the Chain of Causation that Led to the Sad Deaths of American Ambassador Christopher Stevens and Colleagues in Libya