Steve GannGood Intentions
November 1st 2006 23:13
In Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons, More cries out in frustration, praying to be saved from the actions of plain simple men!
A Muslim friend of mine living in difficult times, wrote to me about what has been happening with her friends and family.
When I was writing my bits and pieces on past conflicts, it always came home to me that it was not those who commit atrocities who are tested in these circumstance. It is the innocents who receive the knock-on effect.
By this I mean the second tier victims who have to live with the consequences of what others have done. The best examples are how we band together to support each other. The worst examples are the hate mongers who lash out at any convenient target. It is for this reason that America is, at the moment, travelling in dangerous territory. As they seek vengeance, the world suffers. As they build their efforts to wage war, they suffer and will continue to do so. Their children and their children's children will reap the whirlwind of hate being generated daily. But, they say, we do this for the good of everyone. We're the guys in the White Hats. Sure. Yeah. Right. It doesn't matter what bullet kills you or from where it comes, the result is always the same. You're still dead.
If they were only to root out the cause and then step back, they could be seen as acting with restraint. But what is the cause? Where do you draw the line?
If there was such a thing as a pause - a ceasefire - then we can all breathe a sigh of relief. This is a time when simple, rash solutions will generate nothing but chaos and destruction. We should always be wary of anyone who rushes to judgement and is eager to punish. Great men in such as times as these, measure the extent of their certainty and temper justice with caution and the certainty that what they do today, will effect tomorrow.
From Tomorrow On
From tomorrow on I shall be sad,
From tomorrow on.
Not today. Today I shall be glad.
And every day, no matter bitter it may be,
I shall say:
From tomorrow on I shall be sad,
Not today.
This poem was written by an unknown child in a Nazi death camp. Anyone who has read the diary of Anne Frank will recognise the spirit of this child.
The sad thing is that we keep saying to one another that we have learnt the lesson, that we shall not let such things happen again. Are we Christian or Jewish, Muslim or Hindu ? -- No not really. This is not the sum of our being. Nor are we negro or caucasoid, slavonic or chinese. We are not slivers of a tiny faith or breed. We share more than we know. All we need to do is recognise each other, with a smile. That would be a good start, at least.
A Muslim friend of mine living in difficult times, wrote to me about what has been happening with her friends and family.
When I was writing my bits and pieces on past conflicts, it always came home to me that it was not those who commit atrocities who are tested in these circumstance. It is the innocents who receive the knock-on effect.
By this I mean the second tier victims who have to live with the consequences of what others have done. The best examples are how we band together to support each other. The worst examples are the hate mongers who lash out at any convenient target. It is for this reason that America is, at the moment, travelling in dangerous territory. As they seek vengeance, the world suffers. As they build their efforts to wage war, they suffer and will continue to do so. Their children and their children's children will reap the whirlwind of hate being generated daily. But, they say, we do this for the good of everyone. We're the guys in the White Hats. Sure. Yeah. Right. It doesn't matter what bullet kills you or from where it comes, the result is always the same. You're still dead.
If they were only to root out the cause and then step back, they could be seen as acting with restraint. But what is the cause? Where do you draw the line?
If there was such a thing as a pause - a ceasefire - then we can all breathe a sigh of relief. This is a time when simple, rash solutions will generate nothing but chaos and destruction. We should always be wary of anyone who rushes to judgement and is eager to punish. Great men in such as times as these, measure the extent of their certainty and temper justice with caution and the certainty that what they do today, will effect tomorrow.
From Tomorrow On
From tomorrow on I shall be sad,
From tomorrow on.
Not today. Today I shall be glad.
And every day, no matter bitter it may be,
I shall say:
From tomorrow on I shall be sad,
Not today.
This poem was written by an unknown child in a Nazi death camp. Anyone who has read the diary of Anne Frank will recognise the spirit of this child.
The sad thing is that we keep saying to one another that we have learnt the lesson, that we shall not let such things happen again. Are we Christian or Jewish, Muslim or Hindu ? -- No not really. This is not the sum of our being. Nor are we negro or caucasoid, slavonic or chinese. We are not slivers of a tiny faith or breed. We share more than we know. All we need to do is recognise each other, with a smile. That would be a good start, at least.
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