Topic for discussion: getting along

From: Georgie Hinklemyer <samoolives_at_yahoo.com_at_hypermail.org>
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 05:37:03 -0000

(Posted on her behalf, with permission.)

After getting yet another canned blurb on "9/11 attack was caused by
God being removed from our schools and civic affairs" I got to
thinking and this is the result. I doubt this will go nearly as far
around the world as the easy answers, but... at least it's something
to consider.

Thoughtful discussion of God, religion and philosophy are frequently
dismissed as effete nitpicking and shunted aside because they rarely
make good soundbytes. Use of 'God buzzwords' is common, and because
they are meant to appeal to the unthinking, "faithful sheep" in all of
us I look on them with vast suspicion.

Removing prayer from our officially sanctioned civic activities is NOT
the reason for the 9/11 attacks. Or rather, it is but not the way many
would have us think. The Trade Towers were attacked because they
represent something complex - The United States is the most obvious
and powerful example of a secular society which believes God and Faith
are in the believer's heart; they are not tools for the State to
manipulate to keep the populace thinking 'properly'.

Consider: The Towers were not a military target, not a religious or
governmental seat. The Trade Towers represent commerce, wealth,
trade, international civil relationships built on mutual benefit
across ethnic and religious lines where all the participants benefit.
THAT is why they were attacked.

The terrorists don't care a bit what religion we follow; they really
don't care about what their followers believe either so long as they
are isolated, terrified, angry, and poor and so desperately
marginalized that they must take any scrap to survive. They attacked
the Towers and they continue to attack such targets all around the
world, no matter what ideology they claim to follow, because those are
their real enemies.

Wherever people of different backgrounds gather and say "You talk
funny and I don't like your food, music or religion. I don't want my
kid to date yours. But we have a common goal and we can work together
for that." is where the terrorists are most vulnerable. Because when
people realize their 'enemy' isn't they also stop being afraid and
they start thinking about how to live instead of when to die and kill.

Think about how angry, afraid, desperate and bitter you would have to
feel to leave your family and friends, strap on a bomb and go into a
shopping center to blow up some strangers. How much would have to be
taken from you? How many dead friends, relations, hopes and dreams?
What rhetoric would be needed? What sort of circumstances? Those are
our enemies, and they're powerful.

It's time to fight this. Our enemy is not the stranger, within or
without, it's fear. It's knee-jerk reaction to the different. As
social animals we all are hardwired to prefer our own 'pack' or
culture, but that doesn't have to mean we want everyone else gone. We
have a common goal with everyone who wants peace and quiet, safety and
civility. We still may not like each other's food or music but that's
ok.

Elena
Received on 2004-06-27 22:37:04