TERRORISM

As horrible as the ISIS attacks in Paris were, the school shootings here in America are just as bad.- if  not worse. Those who want to ban all immigrants from Syria forget that every country, religion, and race has it's share of disaffected people driven by anger and bent on killing innocent civilians. Closing our borders to immigrants won't reduce or eliminate the number of insane zealots of any racial, national, or religious persuasion in our Country. We've already got plenty of home grown terrorists of our own. Don't forget that terrorism takes many forms, not all physical. In the run up to the next presidential election we're going to see every form of political terrorism imaginable as the candidates attack each other with deadly vengeance. Let's not fall into the same fear driven policy that occurred when we rounded up Japanese American citizens during world war two. It's hard for us to imagine what the daily lives of the citizens of Syria must be like. Say the wrong word, know the wrong person and your head is cut off. Bombs drop daily from the sky killing innocents and evil doers in the same blast. Fleeing Syria on over loaded rafts, or on foot across mountains and deserts- not knowing what the future holds for them, or what country will accept them. This is a large scale exodus of biblical proportions. These are deprivations that few of us will ever know- surely we can open our doors to those less fortunate than ourselves- even as our politician bicker like children. The attention that the religious based hatred and terrorism which is eruption like a plague in the Middle East is getting provides us with the opportunity to finally address the problem from a global perspective. This is a rare opportunity to address the problem as Global community of Nations bent on finally bringing an end to the argument about whose God is superior. Enough is enough!

Terrorism comes in many forms and flavors- all of them cruel. From cowardly school yard and social media bullying to the use of bombs and guns to kill and maim innocent men, women,and children- no matter what its form- people and groups who commits acts of hatred and intolerance violate every value that we hold dear as a species. We call ourselves "humans" and we define compassionate behavior by members of our species and being "humane". Terrorists actions are not "humane" and the people who commit acts of terrorism, in any form, forfeit their right to live among us. Military action,
retribution, and confinement, while necessary and justifiable, are only temporary fixes and will never put an end to terrorism because they don't address the root causes of the problem. Clearly we need a planet wide public conversation about the types of environments - be they poverty, religious oppression, political oppression, intolerance, lack of opportunity, or prejudice, which provide an atmosphere that promotes and encourages people to hate and mistreat one another. We humans pride ourselves on being above all other animals in terms of intelligence, social empathy, and conscience -yet we continue to commit acts as brutal as any other species on the planet. If our incredible intelligence and creativity only lead to more deadly brutality, violence, and intolerance how can we claim to be superior to species with lesser intelligence?

It's hard to know which is more toxic these days -  Religion or Politics. Every single day people all around the planet are killing and beheading each other in the name of their Gods and if that's not bad enough -religion has crept into politics making politics even more toxic that it already was. When are we going to stop judging one another and trying to impose our views on each other? What ever happened to "live and let live'? Where is the compassion and respect? Where is the "do unto others.....?"  We don't need to search scripture to know how to act. We don't need pass laws to know how to be honest and act properly. We teach our children to be nice to each other and to be polite and then we do just the opposite What kind of examples are setting for our children if we attack and insult one another? Religion and Politics are not contact sports. If you want to argue join a debate team. If you can't get along then move along. If you want to believe in a God - do so- but don't insist that everyone else believe in your God and don't pre-judge people who don't believe any God. Judge people by their actions not their beliefs.  Every living human soul who has resided on this continent was a migrant or descendent of a migrant from another continent. You and I don't have any more right to live on this continent than anyone else does. We're merely the most recent in a long line of previous members of our species who have occupied this drifting ice and water covered continent for the past 10,000 years or more. We're all short term tenants without ownership and the terms of our lease require that when our lease expires we leave the land in better condition than we found it. This amazing lush bountiful continent is home to thousands of species with whom we share its natural resources. Waste not want not. The choice is ours. We can leave this garden of Eden better than we found it or we can leave it worse than we found it. The choice is ours and it is ours alone. No other species has that privilege or responsibility.