I Want Out!

Some days a fellow just wants to pull his head back, slam his shell shut and withdraw from the whole human race.

This morning’s paper brought news of a car bombing enabled by kindness. Feeling that the two kids in the car seeking entry to a parking lot in Baghdad ensured that the car was safe, security guards watched the driver and front seat passenger leave the kids in the back seat. Witnesses then saw the adults detonate the bomb they had left the kids sitting on.

What kind of humanity possesses a mind that would allow someone to commit such an act? We all rationalize to justify our behaviors, but acts like this should never even enter the mind of anyone with a soul, and those who carried it out are not deserving of the gentle attention a civilized legal system should accord them.

Whether it is Bush complaining that Congress has crossed the line of separation of powers or Democrats still claiming to be the party of the people after Clinton’s shift to the right and introduction of NAFTA, Christians calling for the blood of Muslims or Muslims calling for the blood of Christians, the kind of hypocrisy we humans commit and justify every day is repulsive and sickening.

Just once I’d like to hear a politician speak without spin. Just once I’d like to hear a nation like the U.S. or Israel or Palestine declare that it had made a mistake and was seeking the forgiveness of the world for its actions. Just once I’d like to hear a Christian say that he appreciates the fact that Islam sees Christ as a great prophet. Just once I’d like to hear a Muslim say that there is room in the world for all religions and philosophies.

In the meantime, I think I’ll just go fishing. For today, at least, I’ve had it up to here.

Be the change you want to see in the world. – M.K. Gandhi