Us

I was looking up stories on the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Apparently, some gunmen coordinated multiple attacks at different locations. One of them was a busy train station where they opened fire and threw grenades. I could see the blood in the photos. It was painful to know that some people are in such a terrible situation. Then I came to the comments section and I came across this quote:

"Request to the CBC,

Please do call these callous excuse of human beings who destroyed Mumbai, TERRORISTS. You only use this word in quoting a couple of sources.

That is all these scumbags are. They do not have legitimate grievances, they do not represent any majority, they wreak terror, pain, death, grief and destruction in their path. They do not use legal means to make their case.

You, as a mouthpiece of the Government of Canada, ergo, the Canadian People should have the moral courage to name the culprits as terrorists. Stand up and be counted.

Nothing else will suffice."

After this, I finished reading a book which spoke against a lot of the lifestyles that I endorse in the western world. Lifestyles that I protect and feel entitled to. Lifestyles which place people in situations where they would bomb and kill other human beings.

Which brings me back to this quote. 10 people recommended this quote. I have to wonder what we have become for our perspectives to be so skewed and distorted. This quote represents much of who I am (and dread being) but there is much truth and it reflects our culture today. We expect people in the world to behave in a 'civilized' manner. We accuse them of wreaking terror and being cowards. We slander them for being primitive and not following rules and using the courts.

We forget that countless numbers of people die every day from hunger when we can eat specialities from every part of the world. We forget that people have to walk 3 hours across mountains to get to school in china when we are in a traffic jam in our leather heated seats in our cars. We forget that common illnesses and wars that we started have claimed the families of these 'terrorists'. We forget that we are terrorists but we do it from far away in the comforts of our homes.

I was watching Simon play Call of Duty 4 today and there is a mission where you are the gunner in an AC-130 (a large aircraft with turrets on the side). Your job is to cover your fleeing comrades from the air with 3 different weapons, each increasing in magnitude of destruction. Imagine you were one of those trying to kill the fleeing soldiers and suddenly an explosion claims 5 of your comrades behind you. That is terror. It is terror when we can fire missiles off-shore and destroy an entire compound of buildings. It is terror when the number of soldiers that we lose is not even proportional to the amount that we kill in other countries.

Which brings us back to the 'moral courage' that we as Canadians are suppose to have to call out these cowardly acts of terror. Perhaps if we had the moral courage to give without demanding anything in return. Perhaps if we could aid regardless of the endangerment to life. Perhaps if we could come to understand and love those in Islam. Then maybe they would come around. Maybe they won't ever but at least we would have had the moral courage to do what was right and not just what suits us