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OT: My Thoughts on Current Events

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Hi Michele,

 

> Hi all,

> I need to get my thoughts on the current events out and share them

> with people. You may or may not agree with me, but I'm just sharing my

> feelings and if you disagree, that is ok with me.

 

This is good .. happening on many lists and there are some heated words

passed at times. It began that way on the Idma AT list but has now

cooled to a point where folks are communicating without fear or anger.

But there are lots of mixed emotions floating in folks heads - the

events of last week are not something most Americans could ever have

imagined they would have to experience - up close or even on TV - and

lots of folks haven't yet determined how they are gonna deal with it.

 

> This whole business of war and terrorism is very foreign to me, as it

> is to most people. I grew up in a small town, where racism and one

> sided thinking prevailed (and still does :( ). But never the less, I

> grew up looking at a global world, not just one country. In college,

> the global community was reinforced even further. In my graduating

> class, I was the ONLY Caucasian girl out of 8 girls in chemical

> engineering. My roommates were Chinese and Ethiopian, others were

> Ethiopian, others were from India, the Phillipines, and Africa.

 

Sorta like me .. one-horse town of 1,200 where I had never had a black

friend or even met a Catholic till I joined Uncle Sam's Army and made it

my real home for thirty years - we were/are a team and there was no room

for differences .. but the US Army has always been the leader of social

changed in the USA. Plus, I got to work in 29 countries during that

period and learned much .. still learning I am - still today as I have

now lived since May 1988 in a Moslem (not Islamic) country - Turkey.

 

> I remember the Persian Gulf War, I had classmates from Iran, Pakistan,

> and Egypt. They were so scared to come out of their apartments during

> the war for fear of retaliation. I remember visiting them and sharing

> their fear of their safety from their fellow students.

 

They had nothing to fear then .. unless students were doing what kids do

well - harrassing their own. If they had been Iraqi, then they would

have perhaps had reason to fear .. unfortunate but a fact.

 

> What I am getting at is that I am VERY upset about the retaliation

> that is being taken against people in OUR own United States! Even

> people who are 3rd and 4th generation Americans are being beaten, are

> afraid to come out of their homes, their places of worship are being

> vandalized, all because their heritage is Middle Eastern.

 

No logical person will think differently - we don't/can't condone such

behavior .. but we must expect it in isolated cases because folks are

not perfect - they run a wide range of intellect and social behavior and

there will always be those who conduct themselves poorly. They are also

the ones who were likely the school bullies.

 

> Here we are, mourning the victims of a terrorist attack, and then

> turning around and terrorizing other innocent people. This makes us

> the same as the original terrorists, no better.

 

Sorta .. to some degree you are right - at least philosophically you are

right. If one commits a criminal act - an actual assualt or otherwise

terrorizes a person, regardless of their nationality, I believe that our

law enforcement folks will step in. But remember this - if the weirdos

were not terrorizing these folks, they'd be terrorizing their own as

they are outlaws to begin with .. we maintain police forces because all

folks don't do what they should do at all times ... :-(

 

> I am very sad that people are being judged on their background and the

> color of their skin. We are in mourning and these people are mourning

> with us, and are scared for their lives. Are we going to have the

> same racial hatred that happened during WWII? Where innocent people

> are sent to " internment " camps, taken away from their homes and

> livlihoods?

 

No chance of that .. if that is your concern then relax. If your

concern is the evil that lurks inside of man - and man's ability to pray

on his fellow man .. then be vigalent as it has gone on since before

recorded time. The actions of the civilized countries of the world to

eliminate a part of the evil is yet to come. Your concern on a person

to person basis is rightfully important to you but when seen in light of

the big picture, it sort of loses some of its clarity.

 

There will be wars and rumors of wars .. which is a way of saying man

will continue to show his inhumanity. That bad enough - but terroristic

actions as we observed last week are outside the norm of high-intensity

conflict and they don't involve the armed forces .. it is the ability to

wage terrorism - not war - that the world must now unite to eliminate.

Terrorism cannot exist without some state sponsorship .. we have worked

(with some degree of success) to eliminate slavery, child-pornography,

nuclear arms races and many other inhumane acts .. and we still work to

those ends .. but now we have one more to add and it has the attention

of the world now.

 

We will not eliminate wars entirely because the reasons for war cannot

be eliminated. Therefore, we will not eliminate man's inhumanity to

man. If you think of it - the major reasons for ware are the desire to

possess additional territory and the hatred and intolerence of folks

with different religious beliefs .. religion is a major justification

for wars. So here - on a grand scale - is what you are observing on a

one to one scale.

 

Organizations like NATO and the UN have brought us a long way toward

international concensus and we are better off now than we were 50

years ago - but we still got a long way to go.

 

> I am very sad and I mourn for the innocents, both living and deceased,

> who suffer due to the acts of a small group of people.

 

I think most folks feel sad about such behavior - or perhaps angry. My

experience is considerable and it often frustrates me .. sometimes I

understand that we can't get there from here .. :-( I do know that the

path to peace and personal security is not just love of fellow man and

leaving vengence up to God - they are idealistic for sure but are not

viable options .. the meek might well inherit the earth but they're

gonna get their butts kicked a lot while they are waiting to receive

their inheritance. We will not accept this at all - except in words.

None of us are willing to try this and leave our personal security up to

the unlikely results of such efforts.

 

So - I guess the best we can do for now is to try to be the best we can

be at what we are doing - be it soldier, firefighter, police officer or

friend to someone .. that's about the best we can do.

 

> Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.

> Michele (usually a lurker)

 

Lots of folks have a lot to get off and I think talking helps a lot -

helps toward the healing needed right now.

 

God Bless America - and y'all keep smiling,

 

Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

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