iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Wings Across The Water ~ |
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If you're a intrigued by chaos theory, then I've something for you. Fans of the butterfly effect, look no further. But it's not pretty.
I'm not on a downer or anything, but after yesterday's ramble about organised you-know-what, ending on a vaguely positive note, look what the first thing I see on TV is, immediately after writing the entry...
After a 'mock 'trial' of the Koran by Pastor Terry Jones, it was found guilty of crimes against humanity and set alight after being soaked in kerosene. This took place at the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida. News stations then reached out and told the world about this tender event which led to imams in Afghanistan instructing their flocks to show their displeasure. Now 14 people, including many UN staff are dead, and counting.
I won't bore you with my thoughts on the merits of burning paper or of getting so upset about someone burning paper on the other side of the world that you go and kill people, but you can imagine what I'm thinking I guess. Maybe the book burning was just a pretext for a 'justified' attack by the Taliban, some people are suggesting. The Taliban say this is not so. Pastor Jones says that the Dove World Outreach Center's congregation does not feel responsible for the attacks. Oofff, that's all right then!
A little paper butterfly flails its burning wings in the south east United States, and people feel a deadly heat in the Middle East. Did they hear about it on CNN? Maybe it's their fault. What if no-one had access to international news channels for a few days because of some technical problem. None of the imams would have heard about the spiteful little ceremony down in the Sunshine State and 14 people would still be breathing some God's goodly, albeit somewhat radioactive, air today. It's CNN's fault. J'accuse.
Of course it's not quite that simple, it never is, but it makes you think, doesn't it?
This is part of the wall of a church. A Parisian church. Above one of the doors is a very curious, nearly obliterated inscription proclaiming allegeance to the supreme being. It's a revolutionary work where the usurpers were against royalty and religion but weren't totally comfortable with 'nothing at all', so they invented a new revolutionary zeitgeist-flavoured religion to go with the spirit of the times. Go figure. My favourite American expression is needed once again. It didn't last.
Are people mad? Deluded? Or just lost? What do they hope to achieve by burning Beatles albums and old books? Personally, I'll continue to distort my reality with my camera lens stuck in front of my eye. It paradoxically seems to help me to see things more clearly than otherwise. I think I need that buffer to protect me from the real world or I'd start burning Qala-i-Ikhtiyar-ud-din Citadel tourist brochures or sticking pins in effigies of Mickey or something.
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© 2011 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.
3 comments:
Interesting image that strikes my imagination.
I can not condone a so called Paster for burning books of any sort nor can I condone the killing of people because of burnt books. We certainly live in a messed up world wrought with intolerance. Perhaps both mad and lost.
I think I'll go burn a Nikon D300 - everyone knows Canon is for the enlightened ones.
;)
Hi Rob, thanks. It's ust struck me that the out' part of this image looks a bit like the symbol for toxic waste, doesn't it? Maybe it's a sign that I should stick to blogging about macarons and keep my nose out of global politics...
As for the Nikon D300 incident; in a supreme display of cross-brand tolerance I'm prepared to overlook the slight. But if it happens again I'll come out shooting with lens caps off...
:)
Peace out to my Nikonian counterparts.
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