Coming from a war-torn country to America. You'd expect this story to have a happy, prosperous ending in the land of the American Dream. This story broke my heart. A family flees a war-torn country only to have a 15-year-old son gunned down in a drive-by shooting.
Parts of the story stuck out in my mind. "Many of them don't have dads, but [the refugee students] write about them as if they were still alive." Here are families who had dads, but they're dead, not dead-beat. Widows and orphans.
"All sought the roomy and cheap accomodations of the apartment complex. . .in a neighborhood that did not always welcome outsiders and is known for its violence." The refugees have struggles finding housing for their large families without credit or work history, so they take what they can get.
"Those close to [the victim] described him as the self-designated man of the house and an honor roll student sho talked of college and eventually going back to Eritrea to improve his home country." Here is the kind of person who wants to work to make the world better.
Why did it take a whole month for this incident to get front page press? You can put on your "Visualize World Peace" and "Coexist" bumper stickers, but until we face the realities of strife, we cannot solve it. This incident happened not "somewhere over there" but within my own metro area. Sure, it's easy enough for me to sit in my little suburban home and blog about it. Let it be known that my indignance is enough for me to sit here and blog about it. What will it motivate you to do? One person's motivation can be another's and another's and another's. I hope it will motivate someone to welcome a refugee instead of shooting them. Forget that which divides us and let's start living as people in a civilized country where we are above gunning down teenagers who fled warfare in an uncivilized country. I'd put that on my bumper sticker, but it won't fit.
Showing posts with label peace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peace. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Monday, September 1, 2008
Faulty Logic?
Rating: It's a toss-up between S and CNS
So the anti-war protesters are protesting in St. Paul by burning cars and rioting. Um, excuse me, is it just me, or does something seem WRONG there? We're for peace, let's prove it with violence. Why on earth do these people not see their behavior as being in direct conflict with their actions. You know, the "talk the talk and walk the walk"? If you want peace, start by looking in a mirror. When you can sit down and talk calmly and rationally (with a particular emphasis on rationally), then you can expect the leaders to do the same. Until then, practice behaving yourself and maybe we'll take you seriously.
So the anti-war protesters are protesting in St. Paul by burning cars and rioting. Um, excuse me, is it just me, or does something seem WRONG there? We're for peace, let's prove it with violence. Why on earth do these people not see their behavior as being in direct conflict with their actions. You know, the "talk the talk and walk the walk"? If you want peace, start by looking in a mirror. When you can sit down and talk calmly and rationally (with a particular emphasis on rationally), then you can expect the leaders to do the same. Until then, practice behaving yourself and maybe we'll take you seriously.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Chill Out, Dude
Rating: MS
When I was a kid, we would often go to air shows. There was even one at the local airport. The worst part of these events were that they took place in the summer when the temperature topped 100 and, being at an airport, that meant absolutely no shade--unless one hunkered down under the wing of a bomber. Other than melting in the summer sun, I enjoyed the shows. I especially loved the Blue Angels. Once I even got to see an aircraft that was just out of being top-secret. It was flat and weird-looking. It was supposed to be undetectable by radar. Yeah, you know the one I'm talking about. Anyway, I didn't know I was being brainwashed by these displays of military might. I didn't know my father's boss was a horrible militant for having restored an old Sopwith Pup and flown it in the local airshow and demonstrating a dogfight between it and a tank on the ground. Ah, how naive I must have been, not knowing that these were merely a display of "how pervasive militarism is in American society."
According to MPR, there will be a group protesting at the airshow in Duluth, MN, this weekend. They are protesting the military bent of the airshow, saying it is no longer a celebration of aviation, but a show of military might.
The woman quoted said, "It's part of our schools. It's part of our education. It's part of our leisure. It's television. It just seems to be everywhere. We became a military industrial society a long time ago. And when you become that it becomes your identity. And so, many us are questioning, 'is that how we want to be known in the world, as a militaristic society?'"
If she is asserting that it is part of our schools and education, why are the schools also leaning toward teaching that our policy on Iraq is wrong? Sounds like we'd rather confuse our kids.
It seems to me that if people want to truly fix what is wrong in our country and world, they would aim their efforts elsewhere. Protest teaching our children that sex outside of the context of marriage is wrong. Promote peace by not destroying someone's character on My Space. Encourage racial harmony not through tolerance but through recognizing that we are all God's beloved children and that should be the basis, not which holiday one celebrates at Hanaramakwaansmas.
Maybe I sound like an idealist. Maybe I sound like a raving lunatic, but I think that many people who are working for change are actually making the division worse by creating problems where no one would think to look for one. It's one thing to protest (PEACEFULLY) outside an abortion clinic. It's another thing to protest outside an air show. One has the clear and present danger. The other is just a place for families to go and enjoy seeing loud aircraft, and the largest dangers are sunburn and hearing loss.
I guess the peace activists don't remember that is wasn't the pacifists who won them their rights of freedom of speech and assembly.
When I was a kid, we would often go to air shows. There was even one at the local airport. The worst part of these events were that they took place in the summer when the temperature topped 100 and, being at an airport, that meant absolutely no shade--unless one hunkered down under the wing of a bomber. Other than melting in the summer sun, I enjoyed the shows. I especially loved the Blue Angels. Once I even got to see an aircraft that was just out of being top-secret. It was flat and weird-looking. It was supposed to be undetectable by radar. Yeah, you know the one I'm talking about. Anyway, I didn't know I was being brainwashed by these displays of military might. I didn't know my father's boss was a horrible militant for having restored an old Sopwith Pup and flown it in the local airshow and demonstrating a dogfight between it and a tank on the ground. Ah, how naive I must have been, not knowing that these were merely a display of "how pervasive militarism is in American society."
According to MPR, there will be a group protesting at the airshow in Duluth, MN, this weekend. They are protesting the military bent of the airshow, saying it is no longer a celebration of aviation, but a show of military might.
The woman quoted said, "It's part of our schools. It's part of our education. It's part of our leisure. It's television. It just seems to be everywhere. We became a military industrial society a long time ago. And when you become that it becomes your identity. And so, many us are questioning, 'is that how we want to be known in the world, as a militaristic society?'"
If she is asserting that it is part of our schools and education, why are the schools also leaning toward teaching that our policy on Iraq is wrong? Sounds like we'd rather confuse our kids.
It seems to me that if people want to truly fix what is wrong in our country and world, they would aim their efforts elsewhere. Protest teaching our children that sex outside of the context of marriage is wrong. Promote peace by not destroying someone's character on My Space. Encourage racial harmony not through tolerance but through recognizing that we are all God's beloved children and that should be the basis, not which holiday one celebrates at Hanaramakwaansmas.
Maybe I sound like an idealist. Maybe I sound like a raving lunatic, but I think that many people who are working for change are actually making the division worse by creating problems where no one would think to look for one. It's one thing to protest (PEACEFULLY) outside an abortion clinic. It's another thing to protest outside an air show. One has the clear and present danger. The other is just a place for families to go and enjoy seeing loud aircraft, and the largest dangers are sunburn and hearing loss.
I guess the peace activists don't remember that is wasn't the pacifists who won them their rights of freedom of speech and assembly.
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