I must say that recent events in America have shocked me severely
as they have billions of people across the world. I was initially filled
with hatred and thoughts of the horror that was perpetrated.
At 1100 yesterday we had a 3 minute silence to honour the victims. I felt
anger over Islam and the Arab world in general. But then something
strange happened when I came home I was reminded how many
Muslim people live and work in my town, Fleetwood. The Post Office,
Newsagents, many shops. As well as nationally a vast number of doctors
and other professionals. I was also struck by reading in the press,
getting away from the editorials to read about real Muslims and how it
had affected them.
Islam has to be more than the sum of all its parts. People like Mohammad
Ali and Boy George have turned to Islam because of its message of peace.
It may be distorted by some but then I thought how evil I might think all
Jews were over the way I see some of them treat Palestinians and how
neither side seems to know when enough is enough. Or how evil Catholics
and Protestants all are because of a few misguided members. I saw
the multi-denominational service at Washington Cathedral and I was
moved to tears.
I saw how maybe my anger was due to one overriding reason. A complete
ignorance of the Muslim faith. The Muslim cleric standing with the Rabbi
and other Western religious faiths made me think that if America at this
time can come together like this then we in Britain have NO reason to
complain. I condemn the terrorists as almost every single Muslim I have
seen and talked to on the streets or interviewed on television has. There
are as many people in Northern Ireland that cheered on hearing news
of Britains being killed over the last 30 years. Imagine, we have even
almost forgotten US funding of the I.R.A., much of which came from
New York.
It is too easy to condemn and attack, I apologise for the fact that I have
had some vague idea that we are all under attack from the Muslims due
to initial over reaction as I was watching the news at the very time of the
second impact. I was shaken immensely by this incident. It may be that
I have watched and read too much of it and now may be the time to think
on other things. The fact is that life does go on and that even in a disaster
this extreme some of the people who escaped or were rescued are now
trying to get on with their lives, not all of them seek revenge.
It is harder to understand what drives people to extreme measures but
people have died for their faith for many centuries.
I fear for all the world over the next few months but I hope that some
way might be found for the world to live together. Anger gnaws at the
soul and makes people lash out. Fear of the unknown does not help,
and, like many others, as I said in my previous message to you I do
not know or understand Islam and that makes thoughts we would never
normally contemplate so easy to come by. It is harder to confront them
and to admit that maybe ignorance breeds bigots of all creeds. I will try
myself to change my outlook as the World is too precious to be allowed
to end in some crazy Western v. Eastern apocalypse. The people,
and a few enlightened world leaders may be the catalyst for sanity.
Maybe if we can all confront our demons within then hope stands a
chance.
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