Can We Be Different?
  by Groff Schroeder

On the morning of September 11, 2001, the People of the United States were grappling with growing problems in our economy, environment and government. These problems still exist, and it is easy to focus upon the horror of the aftermath and ignore the inconvenient and unpleasant problems that We the People still face. We must address these problems with a new vigor based upon the unity that has finally been achieved in our great nation. This event must not become the impetus for sweeping past political transgressions under the national rug, or abandoning a single human, political or civil right here in the United States.

After years of what the president recently described as "routine" US bombing in the Middle East, perhaps it is time to consider other options. The new world unity against terrorism should not foster an oxymoronic "just war," but instead the creation of direct blockades and boycotts against terrorists and the nations that support them. Instead of bombing the innocent people that the terrorists and despots hide behind, we should shower them with food and medicine to turn them against the political murderers who poison their minds with propaganda. If a desire for vengeance causes us to kill more innocent people, how are we different from the people who killed our fellow citizens?

This appalling event gives us the opportunity to show the world that we are a nation whose people and ideals transcend the pettiness and self destructiveness of revenge. It is now up to us to end the cruel cycle of hatred and violence that stems from the belief that the only way to close the book on murder is through yet another murder. Instead of claiming the support of God as we rush to kill, we should showcase our democratic values of due process of law and innocence until proven guilty. We should embrace, not obstruct, the creation of a world court to try international crimes such as these.

Good can come of this event, but not from more violence. If the terrorists who committed these calculated attacks are capable of strategic thought, they will have planned a response to retaliatory attacks. But there can be no successful aggressive defense against a united world dedicated to non-violence and the prevention of the deaths of innocents.

We are all fallible human beings, with common needs and personal wants and desires. While religion has important personal meaning for many people, its central and extremely negative role in suicide terror attacks, health clinic bombings and totalitarian theocracies is painfully obvious. It is easy for us to rationalize that violence will assuage the grief and fear we feel at becoming the targets of violence. But acts of violence and political hatred only feed upon themselves to destroy constructive impulses and human achievement no matter if they are executed by a small band of terrorists or a well-meaning superpower.

This is a very rare opportunity for the People of the world to unite against terrorism and violence. We should not allow it to be just another day in a vicious cycle of hatred and revenge. If we do, the people who died in the terrorist attacks will have died in vain, more innocent people will follow them to their graves, and new terrorists will rise from the ashes to create tomorrow’s horrors of violence.

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