Keeping Values in Amoral Times

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Opinion

Editorial note: In my last article, I asked for the respect of all life - "even if" it was Mexican. Just respect. Nothing more. While I received positive responses, I also received hateful messages filled with a total disdain for life. Unfortunately, I expect the same with this plea that we try to change ourselves for the better. After the recent attack, I immediately saw genocidal comments before any evidence was presented. I'd like to maintain the values we try to live when we're not in crisis. My plea is for everyone to lead themselves, their friends, their families and their public officials. That's American. Because I am patriotic, I will always seek to improve when we can and maintain our national dignity by living up to our values. And that means looking at how and when we can grow.

If anyone slays a person,
unless it be (punishment) for murder
or for spreading mischief in the land,
it would be as if he slew all people.
And if anyone saves a life,
it would be as if he saved the life of all people.
Qur'an 5:32

On September 11th, 2001, an extremist organization reached out and assaulted the most basic sense of human decency. Someone belonging to a disembodied nation used human lives in order to take even more human lives. No guns, no military artillery. Just our own resources.

Many leaders immediately came forward and said that we will not change our way of life and give into terrorism. Others stated our values and our beliefs would see us through this time. They didn't feed the flames of passion by suggesting the number of casualties or jumping to conclusions.

Other leaders failed to lead. Within a few hours of the first attack, and with no evidence, they stepped forward and laid blame at the feet of entire groups of people. That happened with the Oklahoma City bombing and it turned out to be one of our own.

Members of the media also failed. Having learned nothing from the election fiasco, they are still putting out stories and retracting them. Worse, they aren't putting equal attention to retractions or balance. Many reporters used words like "collateral damage" in those first hours. No doubt we'll hear them again.

It's natural to give into our basest emotions in times like these. It's often necessary to have these feelings in order to deal with such a repulsive act and vast loss of life. But it's not leadership. Grief and action are signs of leadership. Helping each other to focus and create a positive future is leadership. Cheap political posturing, incitement to anger and encouraging us to violate our values is not. I've often seen bigotry hide behind, "Not all of them are like that, but..."

We've had these responses from elected officials and media representatives in the past. All too often. In times of crisis, we have failed to maintain our values. German Americans are very familiar with having to hide their identities in times of war. Other Americans have had to change their names and accents in order to be accepted. When our leaders and media failed to lead us down a constructive path, we have had had riots by officials, deportation of some Americans and internment of others. We have cheapened the rights of other human beings, proving that these rights aren't so inalienable.

None of these actions was a "result of their times." If you're looking for hope in human nature, it's in this: Whenever there was slavery, there was an abolitionist. Whenever there was genocide, there was an advocate. Whenever there was degradation, there was human kindess.

In the past few days I've seen comments that could have escaped the mouth of any terrorist. "Let God sort them out", "I don't care what happens to any of them", "collateral damage", "They didn't worry about our innocents, why should we?"

Why should we? Either the event was evil or it wasn't. These words of disdain for life came from Americans, not from terrorists. Most of them started before any evidence of the attacker came. If your words can be planted in the mouth of a terrorist, and they don't seem out of place, you must question yourself. Move on from anger to mourning.

When the Senator immediately opened his mouth and called for vengeance and blame, it was a natural reaction. Such an extreme loss of life can't be easily grieved. But it can easily be hated. Such fear and discomfort is what caused Operation Wetback, Yellow Journalism, the McCarthy Era and Japanese "Justice Camps". It's a natural reaction, with horrible results. It's not leadership. Not with the values we try to live up to.

When the media showed a few Palestinians celebrating, many were rightfully disgusted. But it was a few dozen out of millions. The media did not give equal time to the hundreds and thousands of Palestinians and other Muslims around the world who mourned the loss of life. Husbands, wives and school children. Judging an entire people by the action of a few would be no better than if other nations showed the actions of our Timothy McVeigh, our Ku Klux Klan or our militias and extremists and called that American behavior.

History tells us that our media and political leaders play a large role in the xenophobia that erupts in these times. We must ask them to lead. We must lead ourselves and filter through what we see and what we miss.

We have to ask our leaders to prevent history from repeating and to keep us from taking on the values of terrorists instead of maintaining our own. We can't view all men, women and children as enemies regardless of their actions. We must reject the phrase "collateral damage" and finally start to recognize the loss of life that happens on a regular basis around the world.

Whatever evil group did this, they made history in inhuman acts. That specific group of individuals needs to be dismantled and destroyed. This group attacked America. It attacked humanity. People from all over the world and many religions were lost in this act of terror.

We need to be sure we don't follow by giving in to our basest emotions. Let's grieve. Let's act. Let's lead by speaking out against terror and let's grieve loss of innocent life, whomever they worship and whatever they look like. And let's speak out against the anti-Arab and Islam phobic bigotry that has already led to assaults, fires and threats by Americans. We'll have to sacrifice a lot to prevent this from happening again. We'll have to sacrifice some personal freedoms, but must be sure our way of life is truly preserved. Many opportunists, from elected officials to bigots, have already started to use this tragedy to promote their agendas. Within the first few hours anti-immigrant groups who are accepted by the mainstream latched on and used the loss of life to their advantage.

We have to sacrifice a lot. That includes sacrificing our hatred and bigotry. The cycle of fear and temporarily losing our values must end. And it takes all of us making sure our politicians and our reporters are balanced in their reactions. It takes us as individuals to be sure we don't blame an entire culture - because that is what our horrific enemy has done.

Muslims and Arabs didn't do this. Terrorists did. Terrorists like Osama bin Laden and Timothy McVeigh.

Individuals did this. And those individuals should be the ones whom we direct our actions to. Better yet, so you lose your sense of helplessness, give blood or learn how your community is responding with aid and assistance to victims and their families. Learn to mourn and respond without losing your values.

Here are a few instances when we have responded to fear in the past without leading and maintaining our values. Bias against one group justifies bias against all groups. Allowing ourselves to act on the same emotions of a terrorist corrupts us. Every time we "justify" it by allowing each other to dehumanizing the enemy, we make way for the next generation to do the same.