A proper tribute to the innocent victims of 9-11 is to honor their memory by not perpetuating the blind hatred that caused this tragedy.
Tag Archive for hatred
150 Years After Our Civil War
On this 150th anniversary of what is considered the end of the American Civil War, I feel that this Thursday Thought is appropriate.
“Racism is man’s gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.” (Abraham Joshua Heschel)
Knife vs Gun
There was yet another knifing on the local news. I’m very concerned. Shootings are terrible, but an increase in the number of knifings is, in some ways, worse.
With a gun, the assailant stands away from the victim. He has what I call “space courage.” That is, he has no contact with the victim and doesn’t even have to look him in the eye. It’s so easy to pull that trigger, especially with these guns that essentially shoot themselves (automatic, multiple shots).
With a knife, however, the attacker is up close. He has physical contact and likely can’t avoid seeing his victim’s face. He plunges the knife anyway, sometimes again and again. Each plunge requires effort and a will behind it to hurt. That will is born and sustained by a hatred more powerful than that seen in most shootings.
Does the increasing choice of knife as weapon of choice reflect growing personal hatred in our society? I can handle seeing a gun or a knife. It’s that blind hatred that scares me.
Child Caught in World of Hatred
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This short video is so heartbreaking. If the child threw rocks, set off a bomb, or yelled obscenities at the Israeli soldiers, what adults–the real ones at blame–taught him to do that? If the child was simply guilty of being Palestinian while walking down the street, what adults–again the real ones to blame–taught this soldier such hate and cruelty? Hatred begets hatred; cruelty begets cruelty. Why would parents perpetuate such inhumanity? Over land? Politics? A God who must, by now, have shed oceans of tears over the situation? So heartbreaking.
See video at www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=599613566824335. There are about 10 seconds of a newsperson (not in English), then the video.