Friday, July 08, 2005
Yesterday was the attack on the British subway (tube) trains and the double decker bus -- such a tragedy. I remember when the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall came down, there was so much hope for a new beginning, a chance at a peaceful world.
How did this awfulness come about? All it takes, it seems, is a group of extremists willing to do anything to make a point -- no matter how cruel and horrific!
Although I have been a staunch detractor of Bush's Iraq War, what do we do to end this senseless violence? When ideologies clash is there a peaceful way of finding a middle road?
I am watching how the clash between right and left here in the United Sates unfolds itself. Is this process a roadmap for non-violent ideological accommodation?
I am not happy with the conservative, rightist influence in our country right now, but I do not want to resort to any sort of violence to bend the process back to the left or at least to the middle of the road. How far right can it go without me screaming in pain?
I give money to the political process and I try to keep involved in the political process. I call my congressional representatives, I vote, I am mildly involved with a political action group. Does the violence erupt because those extremists do NOT have the political outlets that I do? Or is it that I have too much to lose if violence and anarchy take over and the extremists feel that they will win if my way of life is destroyed? Or is it a truly religious fervor that pushes the extremists into killers in the name of Allah?
In any case, I do NOT have an answer to this problem. I am glad that I do not have my whole life yet to live in this uncertain, dangerous time. If all comes apart, I have lived during the Golden Years of the United States of America. I appreciate that truly.
Rosalind 11:57 AM
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