Now maybe they understand

Now maybe they understand

I need help. I can’t find the quote that I remember hearing. Was it the last wave of violence against citizens? Or the last operation? Well, when terrorists struck Israel, the US statement was something about “violence on both sides”. It infuriated me. There is a right and a wrong. It does matter who first moves from rhetoric to violence – that is the difference between hatred and defense, between criminal and hero. The fascists are wrong by definition, which is why Trump’s “both sides”  statement angers so many Americans and Israelis.

When I heard CNN talk about this part of the issue, the first thing I thought was, “Now maybe they understand why it makes me angry when they talk about ‘both sides’ at fault.”

1977 vs 2017

Then I thought of Skokie, Ill. This is another time, but if the NSPA had marched in 1977, how would the Holocaust survivors living there reacted? What would the world have said if they had marched without any reaction? To allow fascists in America to demonstrate without taking a stand is to do wrong. Freedom of Speech does not protect you if you choose to incite to violence. (Which is another reason it is so wrong that the North Dakota sheriff doesn’t stand with Standing Rock against the threats that were made against them.)

Morality is Cultural

There is a right and a wrong to potential human behavior. But that judgment is not inherent. It is cultural. One culture’s absolutely horrific taboo is another culture’s way of life. Moslems denounce militant groups as not representing true Islam. Americans across the Mason Dixon line denounce extremists who do not represent the American ideal – freedom and justice for all. As a thinking human, we each have the responsibility to determine what is right and what is wrong, and to stand up for Right. And to stand up against what is wrong.

To respond with the voice of the president of the USA, to a domestic or foreign event, without making that judgment and taking that stand, is to demean that voice.

 

 

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