It seems impossible to hash out a full understanding of all that’s happened in the Middle East over the short course of a week. That is to say, I think the general understanding of anyone trying to make sense of the deep-rooted and very complex situation of violence, hatred and our own religious intolerance toward that region of the world is muddy at best.

Contrary to the so-called expert opinions that have bombarded news media since the release of an amateurish anti-Muslim video portraying the Muslim Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester, there’s something askew about pinning the violence solely on the release of that movie. I can understand why Muslims are up in arms – it’s the equivalent of offending Christians with a cheap movie that slanders Jesus in the same negative image; but to say the violent protests and riots that have claimed lives, including that of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, can be blamed on that alone just seems like a simple answer to a much more complex issue at hand.