>Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 18:04:34 -0700 (PDT) > "w. everett chesnut, ph.d." <[log in to unmask]>Reply-To: [log in to unmask] > Tuesday, tragedies, terrorism >I have received so many forwards about Tuesday's horror; >here, then, is a forward with which I can fully agree in >both my grief and my hope. > >If you've already had a bellyful about the Tuesday tragedy, >feel free to ignore this. If you disagree with it, feel >free to discard it. If you agree with it, you might want >to pass it along. > >Yours, > Ev >=============================================================== >> >> At the university, I was on my way to work when I >> first learned about the horror that had occurred on >> Tuesday. Like so many others, I was devastated by the >> news. Here at the University of Oklahoma, the World >> Trade Center tragedy not only horrified us but rekindled >> nightmares about the Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrah >> building. Students gathered in the campus Student Union >> building to learn what we could from the television >> newsreports. >> For the past several days, I have needed to be >> around people, to meditate, to observe in some hopes of >> deriving some small explicability from all this. So I've >> listened to my fellow students. I've watched CNN, CSPAN, >> all four network channels. I've read reactions in print >> newspapers and internet newsgroups. I've talked with >> friends and exchanged e-mails. And I've tried to grapple >> with the horror, the incomprehensible loss, and the >> social changes I can already sense developing. >> Tuesday's tragedy cost us perhaps thousands of lives >> viciously, absurdly ended. It cost us our sense of >> national safety in one of our greatest cities and in our >> safest means of national and international travel. And, >> after observing people's reactions these past several >> days, it looks as though we as a country may have lost >> far more on Tuesday. >> In newsgroups and e-mails, in conversations over- >> heard, I keep encountering the ugly words of racism. >> More than once, someone has stated that s/he really >> didn't care whether anyone in the Middle East were >> responsible for Tuesday's tragedy -- we should bomb the >> Middle East into oblivion anyway. I remember that, when >> people had suspected Middle East terrorists of bombing >> the Murrah building here in Oklahoma, a Philipino friend >> of mine had been assaulted by angry White students who'd >> assumed he were from the Middle East simply because he >> had darker skin. In my history books, I've read what >> our nation did to United States citizens who happened >> to be of Asian descent during World War II; I remember >> from my childhood how people treated United States >> citizens and foreign students of Middle Eastern descent >> during the Iran Hostage Crisis and again during Desert >> Storm. I can still recall witnessing men in Ku Klux Klan >> robes on the roadside waving signs advocating hatred for >> everyone associated with the Middle East. I remember >> the ugly sounds in their voices, and I'm hearing that >> same ugliness in the voices of too many of my fellow >> Americans today. >> In print and in person, I keep encountering people >> who now react with crazed fear against anything which is >> not silenced obedience to the government. They are >> convinced that unity in the face of this tragedy means >> that we must now surrender on all social and political >> issues to the current executive branch. Why is it that >> so many people who shout that we must unite really mean >> that we must unite under their specific beliefs and must >> abandon our own? How can they exploit a tragedy like >> this into a political ploy? Any disagreement with Bush >> on budget matters, on social security or school prayer >> or on any number of important political disputes, is >> reinterpreted by these people as a dangerous show of >> disunity. I read and hear comments such as "at this >> point the differences between political dogma become >> moot -- we have a job to do" and other comments which >> vilify any and all disagreements with the current >> president, with the implication that such wrongthink >> borders on being traitorous. But what good is it to >> safeguard our country if we do so by casting aside the >> very freedom and open debate that have made our country >> worth celebrating? >> We need to rally together to keep Tuesday's tragedy >> from being repeated, but we dare not turn this into a >> politician's carte blanche for stifling debate about >> critical issues and critical disagreements between >> liberals and conservatives. Unity does not mean >> whitewashing. I understand that it is very easy and >> very human to lionize any source of strength into a hero. >> Abused children still cling to the violent parent for >> protection from strangers and snarling dogs. If the >> white knight promises to slay the dragon, who dares >> upbraid him when he robs from some unarmed citizens? >> But the abusive parent must still be held to account, and >> dragonslaying does not make a saint of a robber. We must >> take action against terrorism, oh yes, but we must also >> continue to work to keep our government honest, fair, and >> responsive to both liberals and conservatives, and that >> is not possible when people are silenced in the name of >> unity. Or we may end up allowing the passage of laws >> that will haunt our grandchildren long after Tuesday's >> tragedy has become a never-repeated event alive only in >> dusty history books. >> Finally, I am frightened for the spiritual fidelity >> of Christians of many denominations. Before Tuesday, I >> heard people advocating being more like Jesus Christ in >> His compassion and submission. Local and national >> newspapers featured others boasting annoyingly about >> their Christianity as part of their lobbying for school >> prayer or such. After Tuesday, I hear torrents of words >> of un-Christian hatred from people who claim to be >> Christians. I read boasts that whoever did this will >> be "hunted down and destroyed without thought for the >> sanctity of human life." Yes, Jesus scourged the >> moneychangers in the temple, and while He advocated we >> pray for those who persecute us, He also spoke about >> bringing a sword. But always at such times He was angry >> not hate-filled, and although He fought back on certain >> occasions, He never indulged in viciousness and blind >> rage. In responding to this act of terrorism, we must >> not become like the terrorists: we must not become as >> hate-filled, as dismissive of human life, as willing >> to harm innocents as those we oppose. Those of us who >> claim to be Christians will be judged on whether we >> remain true to our Christianity when such horrors tempt >> us to cast aside our faith in the name of rage and >> revenge. >> I am sick to my stomach about a large segment of my >> country. The terrorists attacked us, but our reactionary >> response is damaging us far, far worse. Long before >> flies had begun to feast upon the dead, our politicians >> were feasting upon the opportunities provided by this >> attack to silence questions about some questionable >> political policies. I have been told that here, in >> Oklahoma, the first show of unity was the gasoline >> stations uniting to charge $5.00 a gallon for gas. >> United States citizens of Arabic descent worry for their >> safety, and United States mosques suffer bomb threats >> which amount to domestic acts of retributive terrorism >> against innocent United States Islamic citizens and >> their houses of God. Meanwhile, too many Christian >> evangelists and politicians use this tragedy like a >> marketing tool, offering to the grieving not comfort nor >> wisdom but only a sales pitch for their particular >> religion. >> Tuesday's tragedy must not occur again. But let's >> make sure that we fight _all_ forms of terrorism and >> oppose _all_ bloodshed of innocents, including the >> innocent deaths which occur whenever we give in to the >> impulse to blind retaliation. Let's make sure that we >> neither contribute to nor worsen the horrors of Tuesday >> 11 September 2001 with the way we in the United States >> respond, individually and as a people. >> > >__________________________________________________ >Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help? >Donate cash, emergency relief information >http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/ - "Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being." (Albert Camus) ------------------------------------------------------------ the cry! arts and humanities http://www.thecry.com