A friend sent me the Gordon Sinclair piece. I wrote this
reply-
On a personal note- We live in the greatest nation on
the planet. We enjoy more freedoms than citizens of
any other country. The American Dream is a great and
noble thing. To myself and many others, it is sacred.
Yes, United States has made mistakes in the past. Yes,
it is not a perfect place. Nor does it today, great
that it may be, fulfill the promise of the Dream. But
if mistakes were made, it is the fault of the dreamers
and not the Dream. And if we find fault with this
country, we are partly responsible. For it belongs to
each of us. America is ours to improve and guide. It
is our responsibility to shape the reality of America
closer to the Dream. Thanks to those dreamers who have
gone before us, each American has that power.
The anti-Islamic, and anti-Arab sentiment growing in this country made me write this-
The terrorist attacks were tragic. There was enough
death amd sorrow for the whole nation. But it will
pale in comparison to what we will see in the next few
months.
Already, an innocent Muslim was beaten by a
Philadelphia cop. The rage and hatred will explode.
Mosques will be destroyed. Islamic men will be
tortured to death or lynched. Their children will be
killed. Women shall have their veils torn off along
with the rest of their clothing- raped by men hiding
in red-white-and blue uniforms, men whose hearts are
black with rage and murder. I’ve heard too many people
call for the extermination of Palestinians. Others say
that this is just angry talk, that such a thing could
never happen. A lot of other people didn’t think such
a thing was possible in the Germany of the 1930’s.
On this day of prayer and remembrance, I pray
that we do not become the monsters we once fought. I
remember the obscenity that killed 6 million Jews and
5 million others. I will say this over and over as
long as I see one American who needs to hear it- NEVER
AGAIN. The Bible tells us “Vengance is mine sayeth the
Lord.” It is one of the most misunderstood passages in
all of literature. Vengance is not ours to carry out.
We do not have the right to destroy whole nations.
Yes, the accomplices of these terrorist must be
brought to justice. Yes, those criminals who planned
these acts and helped bring them about must be made to
pay for their crimes. But, we must stop there.We must
not punish the children for the sins of the fathers.
We must not execute the many for the crimes of the
few. The rage of those terrorists destroyed two
towers. If we are not strong, if we are not vigilant,
our rage will tear down all that this country stands for.
If any one likes these, post’em wherever you feel like.
As for me, My parents vote in every election regardless of how insignificant it may seem. As soon as I turned 18, I registered so I could go to the polls with them. I grew up in northern VA, just 18 ,miles from the White House. I’ve been lucky enough to see the original Constitution and Bill Of Rights, and to sit in the balcony and watch our senators at work. I live in Philadelphia now. Here are Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. The local media speaks fondly of Ben Franklin as a hometown boy. My landlady is a refusnik, a Soviet Jew who came to America as soon as Glasnost would allow. She sponsors other refusniks. I am surrrounded by people who were born in a nation where eveb going to synagogue was a crime. My great-grandfather fled pogroms in the Ukraine. Here, our freedom to pray as we want (and the right not to pray) are guaranteed by documents that are themselves holy.
As for flag burning, I can think of no greater demonstration of our freedoms. In so many nations, to criticize the givernment is to sign your own death warrant. In America, we can call the President an idiot and burn the flag-and know that the Bill of Rights protects our right to do so. A protester who waves the flag and a protester who burns it have the same rights. Why? Because this is the greatest county in the world.
