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This morning my mom was telling me about how in SA during apartheid they moved you to different areas according to the colour of your skin. That way the light brown skinned people lived closest to the white people and the darkest of the black people were moved the furthest. I didn't know that.

Racism disgusts me.

So does religious intolerance.

I don't blame the violent protests. The thought of the cartoons made my blood boil. And yes I saw them because I had to.. so that I could understand what everything was about. I'm sure everyone knows what I'm referring to. There's a difference between making caricatures of a specific religious group and doing the same to a religious figure. I'm okay if people make fun of muslims because muslims make fun of muslims and everybody does the same with every other religion. But to take our Prophet, peace be upon him,... I can't even talk about it.. My goodness I get upset when I see pictures of Jesus peace be upon him, made fun of - and that's something you see quite often. Freedom of speech.. yeah right.. obviously the cartoons were done deliberately to provoke. As if we're blind to the mounting tensions between Europeans and well everyone who isn't European and living on that side of the world.

V. and I were talking about how some people show no respect for even their own religion. Why do they bother having a religion then? My response to that is okay - but don't expect us to be the same. There are some things I value more than my own life.

The Prophet Muhammed most likely would not have reacted the way muslims all over the world have been reacting. He dealt with his enemies through peace, and with that most came to respect him. I can only pray that God forgive those involved and anything else that might come out of this matter. But hand me a gun and put that cartoonist in front of me and I'd be awfully tempted...