Read at your own risk. If you have high blood pressure, or are a staunch conservative or passionate liberal, push delete immediately. If you are tough, open minded, and love a good debate from both sides, and of course, care about the subject of our country's divided mind set...read on.
“Rove, the architect behind President Bush's election victories, on Wednesday night told a gathering of the New York Conservative Party that "Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." Conservatives, he said, "saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war." Yahoo News
THE COMMENT
And Democrats are supposed to be offended by this comment? Is it not a good thing that a group actually wanted to think first, before declaring war? I think it is a bit of an exaggeration and a generalization to say that any group thought one thing, and one thing only. Republican or Democrat. To say Democrats wanted only to understand our attackers is just silly. After all, none of them are Jesus yet and if they could only feel that way, they'd all be Jesus! Would that be a bad thing? Is war the thing he would think first and foremost? If your answer is 'I don't necessarily want to follow his lead'....I guess the point is lost on you, but perhaps there are other good reasons to not think that way? Ghandi, for example?
THE MORALITY WAR
But more to the point of my point....this ridiculous morality fight between Democratics and the Republicans is a war in itself that will divide and destroy this country if we are not careful. We need to see past the labels once and for all. Both sides are equally 'righteous' in their attacks on each other. Our country loses in the end due to the discord it causes in the House and Senate and in our own world.
To pit one group against another in an attempt to make one seem more moral is unbelievably childish; it’s first grade stuff. We are all guilty of doing it sometimes, but these people are running our country; they represent us to the world. I am beginning to be concerned. Ok, I've been concerned for a while! Dean does it, Rove does it....they are all beginning to sound like kids in a sandbox and it seems to be escalating lately. I would comment on Dean's comments about Republicans, but I lost the fervor of the moment since it was a while back. Maybe he'll be quiet for a while now....we all hope.
Back to Rove. He said the Republicans reacted to savagery with preparation for war, as though that were the 'moral, right thing to do' ...that is funny to me, in a sick way.
Our reactions to savagery do not define our morality. Our reactions to savagery define a reaction to our human condition; vulnerability to emotional and physical attack by others.
In truth, we all felt vulnerable, and we all felt scared. But there was a myraid of feelings that day and since that day for all of us. Some of us, Republican and Democrat, did want to understand the minds of those who blindly, randomly kill, and realized perhaps rather abruptly that day in September, that we must begin to meet half way in some areas with different cultures and figure out a way to live together on the same planet, harmoniously, with varying beliefs and ways. And I don't think Democrats hold the ticket to peace and open mindedness...or the Republicans. To think one does is just plain silly. I like the word silly I guess.
And please don't yell back with your hands on your hips "But they don't try to understand us, so why should we?! They hit us first!!"
FIGHTING THE BULLY
Punching the bully on the playground may make sure he doesn't bother you again (til he forgets about it, with his short attention span (did I say that?) but it does not fix his mindset, and it surely doesn't mean he won't bother someone else as soon as you look the other way. And 'someone else' DOES matter, in a global economy and world. So, we protect ourselves from his punch, and be clever and kind in our dealings with him to help him to change and grow with the relationship you both are now defining. And we can afford to define it in our way when we are protecting ourselves from harm while doing it. In other words... you can't bully a bully! It's just silly. (that word again!) Both sides win when neither has a motive to fight. Don't give him a chance, or motive.
To do this, is not to condone bad behavior as Rove suggests. It is to understand it. Be able to work with it so no one feels they have lost. We can better defend, and better make peace with a real understanding of other's beliefs, their passion and even specifics about their religion while protecting ourselves from infiltration of terrorists.
EDUCATING OUR KIDS
In the U.S. the Muslim religion, or really any other religion is never talked about or taught to our young children so most of them have absolutely no idea what a Muslim is. This means they are unable or most likely unwilling to understand that to say 'all Muslims believe in violence' is as silly as saying all Christians blow up Abortion clinics and all Italians are Murdering Mobsters. This is a big mistake on the U.S. educational system's behalf.
To teach is not to condone or agree with what you are learning. It is to educate and broaden minds about all facets of life. And it might just give a child the knowledge, patience, kindness, tolerance, and intelligence to see beyond one's religious beliefs and see a human being.
But tolerance, understanding and using the power of knowledge does not mean we don’t also want to feel protected while we are moving in the direction of those pursuits, knowing it may take hundreds of years of effort, but must be begun at one time or another.
WAR OR NOT
Protection, yes…in the form of defense. Offensive war, maybe. But not the knee jerk reaction of ‘war for sure' that Rove suggests the Republicans felt. Maybe I am not in touch with the average Conservative thoughts today, but I doubt most wanted war immediately and might have also had thoughts wanting to understand the basis for their attack, while at the same time, feeling a need to protect our soil. Protect, not offensively attack immediately, or perhaps, ever.
THE BIGGEST MYSTERY
What I have trouble really understanding, almost as much as how or why people kill and go to war …is how on earth people like Rove, or Howard Dean, with ignorant and childish comments, ever got into the positions they hold!
Diane L. Perretto
No comments:
Post a Comment