Thursday, September 16, 2010

OBAMA..nia ( US ) ..terrorism

There is a very dear blogger friend of mine who recently wrote on her blog how she and a section of people in the US dont agree with the pacifist policies of the US government when it comes to the 'muddhah'/topic of building a mosque near the 9/11 site or ground zero if you please.

She feels people of Islam have been burning since ages the christian Bible, The US flag (along with sundry others) and would burn the people of America if given a chance and that the govt. of the US is being lax when it comes to reacting to this terrorism and taking precautionary steps related to 9/11. But at the same time is very firm and strict when it comes to dealing with reactions/feelings and anger of people who were directly or indirectly affected by the 9/11 attack..

Burning Bibles, flags etc is so true of the extremist types. I totally empathise with the pain of the people directly or indirectly (the whole world - barring of course the extremists) affected by 9/11.

And I am against the firing/sacking of the guy who decided to burn a holy book outside the site proposed for the mosque..('A new Jersey train conductor, Derek Fenton was fired from his job because he decided to burn the Quran outside the planned mosque near ground zero on september 11th. He was with his company for 11 years with a very good reputation')

Though personally I dont agree with his decision of burning it, but as I see it you (the company) could give him some flak, but sack - NO.

But I do think that the people who decided to build a mosque near 'ground zero' should realize they can only do this in America or such countries where fanaticm is not considered an attribute. They could have been more sensitive about choosing or rather not choosing this as a site for the proposed mosque..There is an adage in hindi which says 'jale per namak chirakna' also in english the same thing goes as 'rubbing salt on one's wounds' Sensitivity is definitely not their strong point , though the intentions might be good/peaceful.

She feels everyone else (in other countries) is burning their flags, bibles and whatnot, and yet in America people get fired, arrested and get a 10k reward (whoa) over their heads if they do something that comes under the basic first amendment rights..That doesnt make sense to her and she feels that it could be fear of Islam that drives the United Statesto take these decisions..

I dont agree personally, because I feel its not fear thats driving the US to take these steps..its sanity.

I think its commendable when US tries to keep their sanity and enforce peace (though the 10k reward does seem a bit over the top ''the police are offering a 10k reward for information leading upto the burning of a Quran outside of a city mosque')

Only sane people will try to keep order when feelings are running high. Its just like the adult butting in during the kids fight.

Only a tree which bears fruit/is heavily laden with fruit bows/has flexibility 'goes another hindi adage.

This is America's 'one drop' in the ocean of humanity..I have this theory and I am very fond of repeating this 'one drop' theory over and over again.

I believe if each of us contributes our one drop of goodness (of thought or action) in this life's ocean the world would be a beautiful/peaceful place.

One drop is 'trying' to be responsible/sensible when noone else is, its 'trying' to contribute what we can for the good of society in however/whatever small or big way we can. Its reaching out - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

Its feeling, empathising, being there..

14 comments:

  1. 1. It is Michigan State University offering the reward not the civil authorities of East Lansing Michigan. If it is found to be a student who desecrated the Quran they can take disciplinary measures that the police can not.

    Burning a flag, a religious book, etc is not considered hate speech but rather free speech protected under the American constitution first amendment. If the act was directed at a specific individual it may be crime but this was left at the door of a Mosque and therefor is allowed under civil liberty, no matter how ignorant an act it was.

    2. Few people who are against the building of a Mosque near where the WTC was know that there were two Mosque's (one in each tower) that were destroyed.

    3. The President of the United States taught Constitutional law and therefor could legally make no other stand than he did. As a part of his oath of office he swore to protect and defend the constitution of the United States. I would wager that he is familiar, more so than most, with that particular document.

    4. There is a bitter wind of frustration blowing through the entire country right now. Peoples base fears are rising because they are afraid. Not afraid of a terrorist attack but for the way of life they have known. It is changing and it will never be the same. So when fear rules the mind it (in their mind) becomes acceptable to lash out at any target. They believe that this is a Christian country but the truth is by law it is a non sectarian country that happens to have more supposed Christians in it than any other faith.

    I think the Imam building the Mosque has the right to do it as much as any other religion that can afford the property has the right. Is it wisdom to build it in the face of so much opposition? NO. But then I have met very few wise religious people of any creed.

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  2. Ahh Mark, thats indeed a valuable comment and thats why I wanted you to read this..Thank you. I was ignorant about the first 2 points you've mentioned. Driven by feelings not research as usual.

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  3. Here for the first time. You are writing well. Now think this has become the hottest topic of discussion in U.S. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Fear can make people behave differently. The society there is at the precipice. They have lost faith in many things that USA once stood for. It will take time and upheavels to set it right.

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  5. Thanks for coming by Chitra.

    Oh great Lama thank you for the Gyan. We all are losing faith in life, love, ourselves. Hopefully it just takes time and no upheavels to set us all on the right path...

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  6. "But I do think that the people who decided to build a mosque near 'ground zero' should realize they can only do this in America or such countries where fanaticm is not considered an attribute."

    I agree totally. And, you are brilliant. Great post!

    The whole situation takes the wisdom of Solomon.

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  7. Jo, great to see you here!!!!!! Thank you.

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  8. The proposed mosque is two city blocks from Ground Zero. Would four blocks be far enough away? How about four miles? How about forty miles? The truth is that many of those who oppose the mosque are bigots, and there is no set distance that would be acceptable to them.

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  9. Timoteo,
    Sometimes pain and distance in the heart needs to be healed first so that we can all come closer..

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  10. everywhere people take advantage of democrarcy or should I say abuse it.

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  11. I have a post about this issue because, frankly, it really ticked me off. The problem I have when people say it's "insensitive" to build a mosque near the site of 911 is that it belies the belief that "Muslims were responsible for that tragedy". I'm sorry but we simply can't blame an entire religion for the actions of some extremists who were not acting according to the tenants of that faith. It's just another way to divide people into 'us' and 'them', and that has to stop.

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  12. Well yes you do have a point there..we cant blame the entire muslim population of this world for this tragedy. And like you I have had some wonderful muslim friends in my life. And I have written before that terrorists have no religion..they only have terrorism and perhaps thats their only religion.

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  13. I agree with so much of what has been said here I don't even know where to begin. First, it is so very true Americans can not blame all Muslims for the acts that happened. No way. Thats like saying every denomination of Christianity marched across the world massacring people through time in the name of God. Some did but not all. The mosque -give me a break people (the grippers) Timoteo is right on with that one. Americans (of course not all)are scared. I agree fear is running so many peoples decisions. Actually, I see too many are digging a huge whole of stupidly that we will all end up falling in.
    Gosh, I will have to go back and reread but I want to bring another perspective into this discussion.The perspective from a Native American...
    Oh I remembered something..that we are a country founded on freedom of religion even though it wasn't for many that way and today socially its a joke.....oh I will be back. :)

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  14. River oh you are so welcome here and I am very interested in what you will say on this further :)

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