There is just so much
sadness combined with hate and evil actions.
One horrific attack after
another. From single to multiple fatalities. How important are the numbers and
classifications to the dead as the event is defined by the living?
One of the questions of
late to be asked is, “Did an immigrant do it?” Why? Would it somehow be better
if a Christian or atheist had done the slaughtering instead? Would that somehow
make it easier to live with, tolerate or understand? Are the dead from the
Planned Parenthood killings in Colorado Springs somehow easier to tolerate
because the numbers are smaller and a Muslim wasn’t involved? They’re just as
dead and it’s just as sad for those who mourn them.
Is there a need to have
one group or another deemed guilty in order to validate already held beliefs? Do
the same rules apply to all unique groups? Is it an indictment of all white
people when one commits a crime or a terrorist act?
Will an immigrant or immigrants
commit terrorist acts in this country or be guilty of committing crimes? Yes,
of course. Unfortunately, that’s humanity. We can accept that just as we can
accept that a Christian or Christians along with any other group that you can
think of will also commit crimes as well heinous acts of slaughter and
barbarism. Everybody falls into some category or classification.
Evil is where you find
it. Evil is amongst us. Evil doesn’t discriminate.
Want to find evil people
in your neighborhood? Go to local government web sites and do a search for sex
offenders and you will find thousands upon thousands of them scattered
throughout the land. Is the first question to ask, “How many of them are immigrants”?
Sadly, it would be for some people these days. (Incidentally, the vast majority
won’t be.)
I lived in a small town
where a serial killer lived. He was a white church-goer. I had visited with him
on numerous occasions. There was no clue as to how depraved he was. He had been
in our home. Evil can be like that. Cold. Ruthless. Calculating. Casual. Undetectable.
Sometimes evil is casual or accidental as in “friendly fire”. Being such
doesn’t make it good or all right.
When a wedding party,
hospital or some group of innocents is wiped out by a Hell Fire missile fired
from a drone, is the first question asked, “Did a Muslim do it?” In the Mideast
the question more likely to be asked is, “Did the Americans do it?” If it’s an
accident does that make it somehow better because there’s an explanation?
“Oops, our bad!”
Evil acts happen. I think
a better question to ask is, “Did a human do it?” That’s our basic shared profile.
I couldn’t help but
notice that some of those murdered in San Bernardino were immigrants. So are
those opposed to immigrants sad that immigrants died? Is it okay to be sad yet
still want to condemn immigrants of any nationality to places where such acts
are a daily occurrence?
Now I’m hearing people
say that it isn’t enough to just wipe out the terrorists. Their families have
to be wiped out as well. Somehow we always end up with those willing to kill
children and babies because after all they grow up. How about you? Are you
personally willing to kill a child? Or is it only okay if someone else does the
dirty work so that you have plausible deniability, don’t have to see it or
think about it? Or do we only have to kill children of a certain age? Should we
just send babies and young children under some arbitrary cutoff date to a
potential terrorist holding center then kill them on their birthday when they
reach the acceptable age to be terminated?
McCarthyism saw the
threat of communism everywhere. So many lives were destroyed over absolutely nothing.
It would have been nice this time around if we had done what the lady in the
harbor says instead of talking about building walls and rounding people up.
It’s just sad that so many people are willing to be the very things that we
aren’t supposed to stand for as a nation, as believers, as non-believers and as
decent moral human beings.
How about we accept what
is inevitable; evil acts will take place. We are at war and have been for quite
some time. How about instead we attempt
to hang onto our humanity and do what’s decent rather than try and determine
what level of torture is acceptable.
There are always
“Citizens Against Virtually Everything” (CAVE). Just pick anything and there’s
a guarantee that there are probably a substantial number of people against it.
It’s human nature.
In World War II there
were those who opposed accepting Jewish immigrants. There were those who
opposed the United States getting involved in the war in Europe. There was
support for incarcerating citizens of Japanese descent. An entire
classification of citizens was thrown in camps because of fear. The fear was
justifiable. The action was not. It was against our constitution.
In the United States we
have a history of committing horrible acts against humanity and feeling sorry
about it years later. From slaughtering the indigenous population, to slavery,
to the Japanese concentration camps. People will say, “Not my fault!” and that
is true. But the history remains.
The CAVE people will
always be with us. They are not going to change their minds. I’m not interested
in even trying to change the hard liners at either end of the spectrum. Their
lines in the sand are drawn. No surrender. No compromise. However there are
those whose humanity is still open to question and change. We also have a
history of doing the right thing at times.
Since biblical times
walls have been proven not to work. Not physical walls or walls that we put
around our hearts. Ignorance is a wall. Hate is a wall. Fear is a wall. Walls
won’t stop the ocean or tides of humanity. Determined intruders will still make
it inside.
Walls are barriers to
resolutions.
Good is where you find
it. Good is amongst us. Good doesn’t discriminate. Then just take out one “o”
if you’re of the faith. God is where you find it. God is amongst us. God
doesn’t discriminate. It’s a choice. The world is full of
decent human beings. They are in the majority.
It seems to me that quite
often the question to ask of any given act, decision or policy is, “Is this
moral?” As for Christians, shouldn’t we be asking, “What would Jesus do?”