Since waking up this morning I've seen
people on Twitter and on my Facebook feed blaming Refugees (those who flee
their come country due to heinous acts of terror) and Muslims (1.57 billion
people who couldn't possibly "all be terrorists" or "we"
would all be very extinct) for these acts of terror, an ignorant and reactive
generalization, which supports fear, hatred and violence. The very acts we all
wish to condemn.
I think I can speak for the majority here
in France (a country which built its unity on brotherhood
"fraternite") when I say it does not serve the lives lost to use this
tragedy as a platform for racism and dehumanization. If it were me who passed
away - I would find conclusive chatter such as this insulting and un-serving of
a future I believed was possible.
This kind of impulse won't prevent another
tragedy like this from occurring. It only feeds the anger resting inside the
souls of those who commit these crimes.
Peace is what the majority of this world
wants. But war comes at a price for everyone, including the aggressor. These
tragedies, though horrific, are reactions amplified and provoked by the wars we
as a Western world wage.
If we think new wars and aggressivity will
snuff out the hatred directed at “us”, last night’s familiar tragedy is proof of
the fallacy of that reaction.
Wars and agressivity breed further war and
agressivity on both sides. If we allow our hearts to fill with hatred and our
souls to fill with wrath, we become neither better, nor worse than those who
seek to destroy our peace and freedoms. We become the same. Fed by the same
fires of terror and darkness.
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