Of course we want justice, and even vengeance perhaps in our hearts for what happened in Boston. It is hard, as a knee jerk reaction, not to blame Muslims in general for this crime. And there are those that are professed Muslims that are turning out terrorists, driven by revenge for real and imagined crimes against Muslims. They are not the majority of Muslims or even a significant minority, but a small group. We would call them a radical hate group perhaps if they were Americans on our soil, for example, if they were White Supremacists.
Muslims can easily point to things like three wars in the Middle East, the killing of innocent people with drones, backing Israel in their denial of statehood for Palestinians, profiling of Muslims (however incompetently it was done), our right wing almost hate propaganda against Muslims, pushing back against Turkey's entry into the European Union, our treatment of enemy combatants, our continued abuse of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, etc. Who wouldn't want to hate a country that has the power to do all these things largely unopposed. The instinct is to fight these with the only weapons they THINK they really have, home made bombs, crude missiles sent into Israel, largely ineffective resolutions in the United Nations on Palestine statehood, and suicide bombers. What else do they have to fight with, sticks and stones? But perhaps, there are more weapons with the right allies.
So, our gut reaction is revenge against all Muslims for the crimes of a few, their gut reaction is to oppose the Military Industrial Complex that runs this country by any means possible.
Perhaps Muslims should realize that many Americans feel as helpless and frustrated and even outraged by America as our likeminded Muslim friends. We are a minority for now that truly grasp that PAC's and not Americans run this country, that Congress's number one job is getting re-elected. We also realize that America as a land of opportunity and a strong middle class is disappearing which is fueling a lot of desparation and eventually hate -- hate to be directed at Muslims and other minorities, gays, Hispanics, etc. We realize that our government is non-functional but still very powerful and dangerous. There are a lot of Americans who see the same problems that Muslims see. Our biggest crime, our apathy in losing control of a once great nation.
This reminds me of a screen in War Horse the movie where Germans and Americans are in foxholes separated by a field covered with bobwire. A horse runs through the bobwire and becomes entangled. Both sides can see the horse thrashing around in the wire. Both sides ache with the pain the horse is enduring. Both sides agree to a cease fire to save the horse. A beautiful scene that fills my eyes with tears from the love and humanity shown in that one moment. But so often that humanity and love is missing when we become so afraid of a wounded 19 year old terrorist that shut a whole city down.
Perhaps the Muslims can join with Americans that want to take our country back and base our actions at home and abroad on our principles, the principles that our father's died for in some wars that really were against injustice in the world, not for oil. Good Muslims have the same principles from their heritage. Because they are not principles created by our fore-fathers, they were simply recognized by our fore-fathers. They are principles inherent to all good people based on fairness, a hand out for those weaker and those in need, kindness, acceptance of differences, tolerance, diligence, perseverance, courage, etc., etc.
We should be united against the autrocities being committed from vengence, intolerance, and hate. We need to seek ways to unite as good people against those of us that would seek to make us enemies. Justice should include correcting the patterns of behavior leading to the conflicts between us.
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