Incongruous
We've had a couple of glorious days here, with blue skies and perfect 70-degree temperatures. I took this picture around 6:00 this evening in my back yard.
The weather is incongruous with the way I feel, with the way most people seem to be feeling. I'm just kind of numb, still, and I'm having trouble concentrating and focusing on everyday things. All I seem to want to do is keep reloading CNN.com to see if they've updated, and then, if they haven't, just read the same news over and over again. But then, I don't want to do that, either.
Last night my friend's sister-in-law was attacked on the subway in Philadelphia. She was on her way home from work and was beaten by three men. She is Muslim and she covers (that is, she wears a veil and long robes). She ended up at the hospital. It makes me so angry and afraid.
It's shameful that people would turn that kind of blind hatred on each other. No matter what reason they might have thought they had, what they thought they were "retaliating" for, it makes me sick and ashamed, and I know it's only the beginning of what we may see happen right here at home. Even at my so-called diverse and progressive workplace, I hear people making comments that sicken me. This hate is very dangerous to our society.
I'm not a pacifist by nature, although I do have very conflicted feelings on this subject. I support military strikes against those who harbor and enable terrorism, whether those supporters are foreign or American. But I also believe it is wrong to judge an entire nation or faith on the acts of extremists. Most likely, that kind of fanaticism is what led to the terrorist attacks yesterday in the first place. Unthinkingly repeating that same wrong in retaliation will only make matters much, much worse, because it will diminish us as a nation.
One friend wrote me today that moderates should distance themselves from extremists, lest they be mistaken for extremists. I think that is true, and not just for people who look like they might have come from someplace else or have "different" religious beliefs. As a moderate, I think I need to distance myself from the extremists here at home, by speaking up to people who make stupid, dangerous remarks that I believe lead to violence against others. Remember what Martin Luther King, Jr, wrote from the Birmingham Jail:
We've had a couple of glorious days here, with blue skies and perfect 70-degree temperatures. I took this picture around 6:00 this evening in my back yard.The weather is incongruous with the way I feel, with the way most people seem to be feeling. I'm just kind of numb, still, and I'm having trouble concentrating and focusing on everyday things. All I seem to want to do is keep reloading CNN.com to see if they've updated, and then, if they haven't, just read the same news over and over again. But then, I don't want to do that, either.
Last night my friend's sister-in-law was attacked on the subway in Philadelphia. She was on her way home from work and was beaten by three men. She is Muslim and she covers (that is, she wears a veil and long robes). She ended up at the hospital. It makes me so angry and afraid.
It's shameful that people would turn that kind of blind hatred on each other. No matter what reason they might have thought they had, what they thought they were "retaliating" for, it makes me sick and ashamed, and I know it's only the beginning of what we may see happen right here at home. Even at my so-called diverse and progressive workplace, I hear people making comments that sicken me. This hate is very dangerous to our society.
I'm not a pacifist by nature, although I do have very conflicted feelings on this subject. I support military strikes against those who harbor and enable terrorism, whether those supporters are foreign or American. But I also believe it is wrong to judge an entire nation or faith on the acts of extremists. Most likely, that kind of fanaticism is what led to the terrorist attacks yesterday in the first place. Unthinkingly repeating that same wrong in retaliation will only make matters much, much worse, because it will diminish us as a nation.
One friend wrote me today that moderates should distance themselves from extremists, lest they be mistaken for extremists. I think that is true, and not just for people who look like they might have come from someplace else or have "different" religious beliefs. As a moderate, I think I need to distance myself from the extremists here at home, by speaking up to people who make stupid, dangerous remarks that I believe lead to violence against others. Remember what Martin Luther King, Jr, wrote from the Birmingham Jail:
- Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
<< Home