They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
- Pastor Martin Niemöller
The amount of fear flying through the US these days is at an all time high. For centuries politicians and people in power have used fear as a weapon in the fight for control. They distort facts and blatantly lie in order to get people in line with their plans.
It has reached a critical point of destruction. This illogical fear based on ignorance is tearing our country apart one person at a time. The anti-non-white propaganda is streaming out and into the ears of the susceptible making it virtually impossible to implant any truth in there. It is clearly demonstrated in this video by New Left Media at Glen Back's "Restoring Honor Rally"
Love him or hate him, as President Obama said in his speech commemorating 9/11 "it was not ISLAM that attacked America 9 years ago, it was Al-Queda." Just as it was not EVERY Catholic priest molesting children, it was a specific portion of them.
What the people in the NLM video and those protesting the building of an Islamic Cultural Center near ground zero don't understand is that they are becoming fundamentalist in their own right. The anger that is flowing through their veins is only matched by those that terrorize the world with their bombs and killings. Their hatred and anger is driving the hatred and anger of those so infuriated with the US and it's foreign policy. Radical leaders of any nation, culture or religion only need to show a portion of the hatred that is spilling into the streets of America to it's followers to insight a rage that burns deep enough to kill themselves in an attempt to thwart the US.
However, when we take a step back and we allow one another the right to speak, to share all of our thoughts and ideas, when we accept one another for our differences, not because of our similarities, we will being to see the rage begin to die. The flames of hatred will be extinguished by our flood of respect.
If we, as America, could say "yes, it is difficult for us to see this mosque here so close to ground zero because we are afraid. Afraid of how 9/11 changed us, afraid because our future is uncertain at this time and mostly we are afraid because we do not know moderate Islam, we only know fanaticism. Please, open your doors, let us in and show us who you are. Let us learn from you and allow you to learn from us. Together we can heal, apart we will remain fractured." That would make a bigger impact than any foreign policy Hillary Clinton will announce.
Freedom is freedom for all, not just some. When we begin to restrict a human beings right to be a human we restrict ourselves. Today we are afraid of the Muslims and their cultural center at ground zero, we are building 100 million feet high fences to keep the Mexicans out, we are refusing the gays and lesbians the right to free and equal love. So I ask, who is next?
Once these perceived "enemies" are vanquished, where will we turn next? Will it be the Jews? The Buddhists? The Chinese? Who will be the next to be destroyed? And how long will it be until you are one of them?
As Ayaan Hiris Ali said, when we are born and raised in the land of freedom, we are blind to the greatness of it because we take it for granted. We fail to see how people are dying to achieve it and we are blind to the power it has and ignore the respect it deserves.
Critical thinking is the most valuable weapon we have in this fight. Don't let your brain be controlled by those in power, go out and find out for yourself. Make the trek to a mosque, or a temple or a church and see what they do. Sit down and talk to the immigrants hear their stories, learn their truths.
Make your own decisions and stand up for them before someone comes and takes that right away from you forever.
2 comments:
Beautifully written, and entirely correct.
I can hear your passion regarding those that will not listen to others. Can we like minded people hope they might hear us now or will they just scream louder then their victims? The preacher that wished to burn the Koran became an overnight celebrity by the media hawking his position everyday since he made the announcement. Sure he backed off but his book sales have soared. The same kind of attention has not been given those Islamic leader that offered to introduce anyone that wanted to know the nature of their religion. They have offered to throw open the doors of the Mosque for anyone that wants to see for themselves the Islamic is not the Satan worshiping black devils ignorance would have some believe. Because that headline isn't as exciting as the Koran Bar-B-Que. It will be a battle for the more enlightened to educate the ignorant and undo the media's sensationalism. I have enjoyed the opportunity to express this to someone other then my spouse. I admit I sit on the mountain and rage at the TV, expressing my frustration with the crazy way the average citizen is portrayed. I heard this woman claim that the building site was "hallowed ground because a piece of the towers fell there and they should not allow the Mosque to be built there."It can't be that bad, can it?
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