Sunday, September 11, 2011

I Remember

I'm probably gonna piss off some people with this post, but I don't care. I remember what I was doing and how I found out about the first plane hitting on of the Twin Towers and had the television on when the second plane hit. It was obvious. Some entity wished us ill in the worst way. Other events proved that out.

I remember the scenes of the people jumping to certain death to escape the flames. I remember the anguish and pain in the survivors and first responders on the street. I remember the towers falling, sealing the fate of so many.

I remember hearing of a group of terrorists called Al Qaeda taking responsibility. I remember finding out they were Muslim extremists. I also remember the shots of people in the streets of major metropolitan areas in the whole of the Middle East celebrating the blows dealt to us - The Great Satan. I do not remember any sort of condemnation from any Muslim leaders. I do not remember any significant condemnation from the so called "moderate" Muslims. CAIR says they condemn terrorism, but I don't remember any of their spokepeople doing so in a large public forum. They say they did, but I don't remember that.

I remember that these so called terrorists were overwhelmingly Muslim Middle Eastern males within an age range. I do not remember there being any Western European elderly ladies or men, or any of the other profiling victims of the TSA having any sort of involvement with the terror attacks.

I remember finding out about fatwas, and the teachings of Mohamed regarding infidels. I remember the moral equivalence crowd insinuating that Christianity is equally guilty of similar crimes. I do not recall the Pope or any of his Bishops calling for a fatwa against Salmon Rushdie or anyone else. I recall from history books that these Christian crimes did happen, but hundreds of years ago and in a similar struggle against the same religion we are engaged with now. I do not recall local ministers advocating the torture and killing of women to preserve some warped sense of male honor. I do, however, remember seeing mullahs support the mutilations and murders of young women. I also do not remember seeing any major Middle Eastern government condemn this sort of thing.

Don't accuse me of racism. If you do, you haven't read the definition and are a knee jerk idiot. The followers of Mohamed are not a race. Other people of Middle Eastern descent are Jewish. In order to be racist, I'd have to hate them, too. I do not.

I might be considered a bigot. I'd be more inclined to agree with that assessment if someone could point out to me how I am wrong in what I've seen from the Muslim religion in the past thirty odd years. Prove to me how they are the Religion of Peace and that all the horrors we have witnesses are not seen as a good thing by the majority of said followers. You cannot. If I was being unreasonable, I would be a bigot. I am merely noting actions, which if you'll recall, speak louder than words.

I also note that the term "prejudice" may apply as well. OK, prejudice means an unfounded hatred, fear or mistrust of a group of people. Show me how my feelings are unfounded. Prove it. Then we'll talk.

Too often we are forced to ignore the elephant in the room. We don't want to hurt "tender feelings." Those who are offended and have such tender feelings should have spoken up and taken action a long, long time ago if they want my sympathies.

I remember all right. I remember I'm pissed.

6 comments:

threecollie said...

Well said and refreshing. thanks

Anonymous said...

thank you for voicing my thoughts.
it seems to me this matter is very simple, logical and straightforward. unfortunately, not for many people -even on my side politically.

see here, for instance, how I lost a good [online] friend - a person of clear mind and similar with my background, a person I was absolutely confident in.

well, I was never hiding my position on the matter; I was surprised he didn't notice the elephant in my blog writings.

this is not the first time and I'm afraid not the last.

LeeAnn said...

I was terrified, first reaction. As the day went on, I got mad. Both have stayed with me, with the fear affecting my life more than the anger, at least in outward ways.
I'm with you on the elephant in the room. I've gotten off buses and planes in the past ten years when certain other passengers made me uneasy. I've walked the other direction if I saw people who made me uncomfortable coming my way. I've gotten a stronger opinion of how religious beliefs can fuck things up.
I'm not unfounded in any of this.
Thank you for saying much clearer what I know is in my head.

Anonymous said...

I was pissed too -- and I was certain that (a) we were going to, as Toby Keith later put it, light up the terrorists' world like the Fourth of July, and (b) there would be more large-scale attacks before it was over.

We did (a) but I'm not sure we did enough of it -- then again, nearly all large-scale attacks since then either failed or were conducted in other countries.

I'm still pissed but it's mostly at the willful blindness still exhibited by the "we deserved it" crowd, a bunch of whom are now running the U.S. government.

Anonymous said...

Spot On.

ambler

Cedar View Paint Horses said...

If yer a racist bigot with prejudice, then so am I.

I was at work watching the tv's in the breakroom with about 15 or so of my coworkers. I looked at all of them, hoping to see a reflection of the rage I was feeling. I only saw fear and confusion.