My thoughts on VT
(x-posted to my facebook and public LJ)
***
There is no doubt that what happened at Virginia Tech was a terrible and sad event. My heart does go out to all of those who are affected by this, but at the same time, I refuse to forget about the bigger picture.
Americans seem to react more strongly when the news involves our "own people", things that happen on our own soil. As if it doesn't matter what's going on around the world, even when it DOES involve our own government and all of us as its citizens and taxpayers.
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=6599§ionid=3510202
as you remember the victims (and their families) of the tragic events at Virginia Tech, remind yourself that your tax dollars are funding a senseless campaign by your own government, which, in the last four years, thousands of American Soldiers and Iraqi civilians (yes, innocent women and children, too!) have been killed at the hands of our own military AND by Iraqi counter-forces who don't want us there.
just think about it for a while.
4-18-2007 saw 183 deaths in a single day in Baghdad alone. We are perpetuating the violence by ignoring it, since it is, after all, happening every day, and ending up in the 3rd or 4th page of the news paper.
***
If you taking nothing else from this note,
PLEASE
just remember that we are all equal as human beings.
Iraqis aren't much different from you and me, and we should not ignore what's going on at the hands of our government and US.
Don't be so quick to judge a person with a "funny name" or a different skin color.
Don't feel so righteous when you publicly announce how many hours of praying you're doing for the VT students, etc,
if you're also saying how disgusting homosexuals are,
condemning them and anyone else to hell,
or judging that Mexican immigrant who just wanted to escape a rough life (imposed by the AMERICAN outsourcing of labor, and the terrible working conditions we allow in foreign countries for our own goods to be produced).
Realize that individuals with mental illness need love and support, too. We can't blame any one individual for driving Seung-Hui Cho to do those terrible things, but we can safely assume that he was not getting the kind of care that he needed. This didn't have to happen.
Open your eyes to the world around you.
Judge yourself before you judge others.
and love one another.
***
There is no doubt that what happened at Virginia Tech was a terrible and sad event. My heart does go out to all of those who are affected by this, but at the same time, I refuse to forget about the bigger picture.
Americans seem to react more strongly when the news involves our "own people", things that happen on our own soil. As if it doesn't matter what's going on around the world, even when it DOES involve our own government and all of us as its citizens and taxpayers.
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=6599§ionid=3510202
as you remember the victims (and their families) of the tragic events at Virginia Tech, remind yourself that your tax dollars are funding a senseless campaign by your own government, which, in the last four years, thousands of American Soldiers and Iraqi civilians (yes, innocent women and children, too!) have been killed at the hands of our own military AND by Iraqi counter-forces who don't want us there.
just think about it for a while.
4-18-2007 saw 183 deaths in a single day in Baghdad alone. We are perpetuating the violence by ignoring it, since it is, after all, happening every day, and ending up in the 3rd or 4th page of the news paper.
***
If you taking nothing else from this note,
PLEASE
just remember that we are all equal as human beings.
Iraqis aren't much different from you and me, and we should not ignore what's going on at the hands of our government and US.
Don't be so quick to judge a person with a "funny name" or a different skin color.
Don't feel so righteous when you publicly announce how many hours of praying you're doing for the VT students, etc,
if you're also saying how disgusting homosexuals are,
condemning them and anyone else to hell,
or judging that Mexican immigrant who just wanted to escape a rough life (imposed by the AMERICAN outsourcing of labor, and the terrible working conditions we allow in foreign countries for our own goods to be produced).
Realize that individuals with mental illness need love and support, too. We can't blame any one individual for driving Seung-Hui Cho to do those terrible things, but we can safely assume that he was not getting the kind of care that he needed. This didn't have to happen.
Open your eyes to the world around you.
Judge yourself before you judge others.
and love one another.