Unlike the terrorists, we hold life sacred, and when we stop doing that, we become like the terrorists. I heard that on the radio today and thought it was perfect.
It is ok to be angry, but it is important to direct our anger at the right person or people. I have heard a lot of people, who claim they were never prejudice, suddenly having prejudice thoughts. I have seen stories on the news about hate crimes against muslims and arabs in our country in the last week. We have always taken pride in the fact that we are a nation of extreme diversity and we welcome all people. If a child is ridiculed because of being of muslim descent, then the seed of hatred is planted and it will blossom. Let us not lose sight of the fact that we may be from different backgrounds and nationalities and religions, but we are all humans living on the same planet. There are evil elements in all groups of people, but it does not mean that the group is evil as a whole. I agree that it is very hard to trust and open arms to some people when it has become public knowledge that the men who took control of those planes had been members of our society that were even well liked by the americans who they interacted with for the past few years. I realize that you are as angry and sad and shocked and worried as I am about the events that occured on September 11. It was terrible and cruel. When Tim McVeigh took down the federal building, did we hate all Americans? Did we want to kill all Americans? Yet, as it states in a news article about the bombing: “And lost that moment – although nobody knew it yet – was the innocence of America. Homegrown terrorism had
arrived with a vengeance, and the terrorist was the kid next door. And he was cruising away from the carnage –
down Interstate 35. ”
I am angry too. Please do not think that I am not. I am scared for the future. I am sad about the loss of so many of our people who had dreams and futures and loved ones left behind to cope without them. I am sorry with all my heart that this has happened. I do not want to lose my freedoms due to the need for heightened security. I do not want my world as I know it to be changed. I want my fairy tale world to be as it always has been. In order to cling to the hope that it may still be, I must remember how easily anger can turn to hate and I must not let any act of cowardace that is fueled by hate reduce me to that level because I am an American and I am stronger than that….. and so are you.