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lagilman40 people killed in Lebanon’s bombing Thursday. A still-being-counted number of dead in the Paris attacks last night.
I was in Manhattan on 9/11, within the shut-down zone. I know some of what goes through your head, how your heart races, and your brain is never quite the same afterward. And I know that there is a cry to DO SOMETHING, to STOP THEM. But we can’t bring fear and violence on that enemy and win, because their entire goal is to force us to violence.
(we should have learned this already)
The moment we let fear and anger override compassion and sense, we fail. In that failure, we've set the stage for a repeat, the return of an enemy who has no nation, has no civilians to protect, has no goal except to drag us down into the same pit of hate and loss they have chosen to reside in. Hate, masquerading as righteousness.
I don't know how to break that cycle. But I know that we have to.
I was in Manhattan on 9/11, within the shut-down zone. I know some of what goes through your head, how your heart races, and your brain is never quite the same afterward. And I know that there is a cry to DO SOMETHING, to STOP THEM. But we can’t bring fear and violence on that enemy and win, because their entire goal is to force us to violence.
(we should have learned this already)
The moment we let fear and anger override compassion and sense, we fail. In that failure, we've set the stage for a repeat, the return of an enemy who has no nation, has no civilians to protect, has no goal except to drag us down into the same pit of hate and loss they have chosen to reside in. Hate, masquerading as righteousness.
I don't know how to break that cycle. But I know that we have to.
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no subject
Date: 2015-11-14 05:49 pm (UTC)John Scalzi points out in his blog today that demonizing all Muslims for the actions of ISIS plays directly into their hands. We have to be very clear about who the enemy is and what they are doing. We have to be equally clear about who the enemy is not, and be very careful not to become them.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-15 04:44 am (UTC)I actually started what I call a "notification ring" where it's basically a "buddy system" that, if something happens (whether a natural disaster or a "human-designed" situation), the person/people in the area has/have a code word they send to their "buddy" to let them know that they are physically okay and to let everyone else know that they are. It frees up all communications for emergency personnel.