Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a total cold-hearted Briton. I have a few questions to the self-righteous few who failed to be touched by the events:
If your answer is that capitalism is the evil, and therefore the drivers of capitalism are to blame, can you confirm that by choosing to live in a free democratic society/global capitalist economy, that you are not, in any way, taking advantage of the benefits offered, e.g. owning your home, car, using privatised facilities; to make your life more luxurious and easier?
Would you not draw some distinction between taking out powerful leaders and killing civilians?
What do you do with the money you earn (if you work). How much do you give to charity or individuals who are suffering in the world?
If you had a relative killed last week would you accept that you had it coming, and you probably deserved it?
I would be interested in your answers.
I personally believe the victims should be mourned, but without the drama and hype the media has given it. In a recent poll on the Internet, it was asked ‘Should the Twin Towers be rebuilt?’ One of the possible answers was: ‘Yes. Show the terrorists we don’t care about their pathetic, jealous actions.’ This leads on to my opinion of the second clause of the statement. . .
. . . Showing the middle finger to the terrorists can only add more fuel to the political fire.
I myself hate war and I would like to understand why this happened, to be able to know how to prevent it ever happening again. It's an opportunity to take a step back, look at things in perspective and how we view the importance of people in comparison to materials. It's an opportunity to stop making sweeping statements about religions and ethnic groups that
we know nothing about. It's an opportunity to separate terrorism from religion and race (there is NO religion that preaches hatred and killing of others or defining a specific enemy). None of us are perfect and we can all be inward looking and selfish in our societies. We should also appreciate that political, religious and media propaganda is extremely powerful and can easily distort the truth and shape our views depending on where we are from.
This is an easy opportunity to label, hate and make the world an even more dangerous place to live in. Any short term anger (this is natural and understandable) should be directed towards terrorists and those who preach terrorism not anyone who is of a Christian or Muslim background. As well as bringing any terrorists to justice we should provide assistance and aid at the same time where needed (doubt the Taliban looks after its own people). Long-term the democratic world should review its policies on the middle east (e.g. Israel, selling of arms, Iraq, dependency on oil etc.) to ensure that no-one in the world has any reason to turn to terrorism and hate the US in the name of some modified religion. A global effort is needed from everyone (not just politicians) based upon rational open-mindedness and not hatred and prejudice.
However, for those who are so angry and who can only call for blood, let me ask you this question:
What have you done to prevent this tragedy?
Some have been warning that this would happen for years, and many have been trying to change government policy to prevent it. But they were never heard and are still not heard.
I say this with some understanding of all the anger expressed by some. But this anger is irrational and just more of the same anger that creates all the conflicts we see in the world.
On the other hand, I am deeply suspicious of the anger that comes from the armchair simply from seeing things on TV. I have observed that anger and sentimentality go together - "I wept for the innocent - lets KILL somebody". Such tears are lies and false tears. They do not come from compassion.
Great anger and hatred drove the terrorists to what they did, and the solution is not to add more fuel to this anger, but stand back and objectively seek out ways to put an end to all the anger.
Compassion and hate are opposites. But hate always tells lies and pretends to have compassion behind it. The terrorist hate in the name of Allah and the Christians hate in the name of Jesus. That is the lie. It is hypocrisy.
I have also noticed that those who call for war and death always speak briefly and in slogans. That shows he unreasoning of anger and hatred.
But what is really sick is the pretence to feel compassion for those whom one never had a care for beforehand. Someone actually said they cared for nobody but their friends and family. That was honest, but it is no help in a situation like this. The fact is we are responsible for one another whether or not we wish to be.
Anger deludes and blinds and leads to destruction of the person who follows it. That is said in many scriptures from many religions and has been known all down the ages.
It is a terribly hard direction to follow, but it is the right one - the only one that will put an end to the cycle of hatred and revenge. It is the direction that requires courage, intelligence and a capacity to stop and reflect and look into the causes of things.