When I was a freshman in college
i took an English class.
As an assignment, we read the play Fences by August Wilson.
It was a book about neighbors.
About family. The ties that bind. And sometimes separate.
And it is also a play about race.
Struggle.
Greed.
Pride.
The other day I was checking the Status Updates on Facebook.
A friend of mine from high school
who is a current United States Marine
posted the story about the 10 christian medical workers
who were killed in Afghanistan by the Taliban.
Usually I just read the posts and move on.
But I noticed there were comments.
Curiosity got the better of me and I read further.
What I found was infuriating.
One man said, "Kill 'em all" in reference to Muslims.
Or possibly even Afghani people.
A woman then agreed.
Being the instigator that I am I could not sit idly by
I chimed in with the following:
Remember, we are fighting terrorists NOT Muslims. There is nothing wrong with muslims as a cultre of people or as a religion. There IS something wrong with radical terrorists. We must always differentiate.
The response received was simply,
Funny, they all read the same book.
I was furious now.
Bigotry disguised as patriotism.
I reminded this woman that Adolf Hitler read the Bible.
That he was a god-fearing Christian.
Somehow, that was okay, though.
Because he read the Bible in Germany.
The country of his birth.
Logically, I presume this woman thinks it is wrong for any
American citizens to be Muslim.
Or Islamic.
Jihad, and the treachery that the Taliban carries out
is specifically spoken against in the Qu'ran.
It is considered wrong in the eyes of Allah.
Just as Jesus declares judgement of others as wrong.
The news is reporting that there are talks of building a Mosque
blocks from Ground Zero.
Call me crazy
but I am okay with this.
I think it will show Americans that
it is not Muslims that we should take issue with.
It is not Allah.
or Mohammed.
It is not the book the Taliban reads
or the lord they worship
but the acts they engage in that are to be abhorred.
If we stand against a Mosque at Ground Zero
shouldn't we also stand against
church
in Poland?
Or Shinto temples in Hawaii?
We must be cognizant of the choices we make
and the manner in which we are required to stand by them
so as to be fair.
So as to be just.
Ayn Rand wrote a book
called Atlas Shrugged.
A central theme of that book was
to check one's premise.
Never has this been more true.
I am sorry for getting all political.
I know it's not "wise" in the blog world.
I apologize if I have offended any of my 7.6 readers.
But I could stay silent no longer.
Cheers,
A
Agreed! Well said.
ReplyDeleteWell said Sis!!
ReplyDeleteGwen
I think I know who you're talking about...was it JSJ? If so...I just skipped over it. I could feel the words of hatred burning my eyes as I did so...but it would anger me way too much if I would've read on and gotten involved. I wonder what he would do if he knew MY family was Muslim...I guess I should feel safe that he's living in another state. *sigh*....
ReplyDeleteA -
ReplyDeleteI am Lucy's little brother, Sam. I occasionally read your blog because she posts about it on Luc-Ends. Since she noted you today in her post, I thought i would stop over and see what was happening with the Family pelton.
I read this little commentary, all I can say is well said. I have a PhD in religious studies and I am perpetually infuriated by the conflation of Islam with terrorism, as if we forget Christianity has its own torrid past. There are fundamentalists in all religions - which is what we should be opposing.
Well done for speaking out!
Cheers
ss
1. How did this have anything to do with fences? I really wanted your P.O.V. on some chainlink and cedar.
ReplyDelete2. It's your blog so you can get snotty about this, but posting responses to someone's controversial facebook post is only asking for immaturity and more trouble. try to get your point across without beating the other side... true objectivity never slings the mud back across the "fence" :)