Attack on London--how to stop the cycle
In the days following 9/11, our organization joined with Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte, the Institute for Policy Studies, and others to circulate a petition calling for "justice, not vengeance." Our belief was that those who were involved in the 9/11 attacks should be treated as criminals and brought to justice. But those who are innocent -- civilians who happen live in Afghanistan and Iraq for example -- should not be punished because they share a religion or a region with criminals. To do so would be no different than bombing Chicago for harboring Mafia families or bombing Kansas because Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, once lived in Junction City.
The Bush administration was intent on attacking both Afghanistan and Iraq, a move that played right into the hands of the 9/11 planners. Bin Laden has said he was bent on provoking warfare between the Islamic and Christian worlds, something his small, ill-equipped group of fanatics could not have accomplished had they been treated as the criminals they were. Remember, at the time almost no one had any sympathy for them or their aims. Now, however, the Iraqi insurgency continues to grow, and many observers believe Iraq is in fact becoming a training ground for thousands of new recruits to terrorism.
So what do we say to our friends and relatives in Britain? Our deepest sympathies are with you today as you grieve your losses and begin putting your lives back together. No one should have to experience what you have been through. I heard one school girl on BBC radio crying out, "We are innocent!"
Yes, you young people are innocent. But we adults, in your country and in ours, have allowed our governments to use our tax money and our sons and daughters to attack and kill others who are as innocent as you. History tells us that further vengeance, further killing, even further security measures will not stop the carnage. What stops the killing is the long-term hard work of building a more just world, one in which all innocent people can expect to live in dignity.
Note: The issue of YES! published immediately after 9/11, Can Love Save the World includes insights from a number of perspectives, religious and otherwise, including the words of a Muslim (Sufi) teacher who is committed to nonviolence. Once again, we need to remind ourselves and our friends, the Islamic faith is not the problem.
posted by Sarah van Gelder @ 3:06 PM
3 comments
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3 Comments:
You don't understand those who seek to destroy us, do you? They see nothing wrong with killing civilians. Not by accident as might happen in a war. But on purpose. Specifically. To bring about the desired effect of panic, grief, and capitulation. Extremists in the Middle East don't need a reason to destroy the West. They just need a time and a place. They hate America. They hate Christians. Their goal is to wipe out both as quickly as possible. You cannot defeat such people through the court system for so many reasons I won't even begin to name them. There are only two choices when faced with such an enemy: Surrenduring or fighting. You cannot reason with them. You cannot meet them half way. (What's half way between them cutting off your head with a dull knife and you not wanting that to happen?) Liberals love blaming America for the world's ills. They spew forth hatred toward conservatives, Christians, Republicans and George Bush. They stir up feelings of anger, bitterness and unrest. It's twisted. And, in the end, liberalism will defeat this country -- and the entire Western world. I haven't yet figured out what kind of worldview liberals hold near and dear, what system of beliefs. Nothing seems to fit. Their arguments are always so subjective, so knee-jerk, so angry. The attacks in London had nothing to do with the U.S. We did not cause them. We are not to blame for them. Religious extremists in the Middle East who hate the West almost as much as liberals do are to blame. Please, Sarah, could you try for a little less vitriol and a little more truth in your blogs? All you're doing -- if anyone is even reading them -- is fostering anger, division and bitterness. If you truly want to save the world, start by saving some of your words and, instead, being kind and compassionate to everyone -- even conservatives. Speak kind words. Write compassionate words. Embrace. Strive to see another side to the issue. There is one.
What vitriol Bill? The only vitriol I see on this page is in your reply. Can you not champion conservatism without demeaning liberalism? Conservatism and Liberalism are but prisms. It is actions, not ideologies, which are immoral. Bombing innocents is immoral whether it is undertaken by fundamentalists or powerful nations. You ascribed to Sarah's post many things which she did not say while ignoring its central point. There are no easy answers to quelling terrorism, but in spite of the difficulty, I'll be choosing hope.
Sarah is exactly correct when she posits "What stops the killing is the long-term hard work of building a more just world, one in which all innocent people can expect to live in dignity."
Bill, you also seem to miss the first and very important point that Sarah made. We did not focus on the criminal behaviour and those responsible for it. That strategy would have been both more effective and more just.
Instead our leaders went to war. Why? Do you really believe, Bill, at this time, after all of the facts that continue to roll out about the motivations of the Bush administration, in the cause of war? Especially this war?
If so, you have only yourself to blame. Anyone who believes that what we are accomplishing is anything short of an American brand of terrorism to support the wealthy is choosing ignorance. Sad for you, sad for those you try to influence.
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