It is sickening what is happening. And no, I am not discussing the massacre at Paris, despite how awful that truly was.
(And before I drift too far, I bought items to donate to the memorial happening on the French Pavilion at Epcot the other day. If you live close by I recommend you do the same. Also dedicated a music playlist to France during a shift at work. No city deserves what Paris has gone through in 2015)
I’m discussing the aftermath.
The bigotry, stupidity, racism, and Islamophobia that has regurgitated after the awful attack is why ISIS is currently winning. That’s right, we are losing the war against them because of our actions. I honestly mean that. If we get more attacks, it will be partially because we have not done the right things to combat the terrorism. Not yet. Guess what, peace and care will destroy this organization far faster than just throwing more bombs towards their area (fighting violence with more violence just doesn't work) and ultimately also taking out innocent lives in the process. If we are more open and accepting of other cultures, then we wouldn’t have hordes of people suffering so much that they feel the only solution is to retreat to an obviously evil organization and participate in spreading its violence.
If just 1% of the 1.5 billion Muslims were radicals and terrorists, then we’d all be dead. We need to stop pretending like ISIS has any connection towards the religion; it’s so far from the truth I am upset at even acknowledging the rumor. I am upset that we still don’t understand the concept of terrorism not knowing any religion—it’s just a ploy to make us scared and guess what, it’s working.
Whenever you spread vile hatred towards Muslims, you are participating with ISIS. Whenever you start treating Muslims different or start viewing them different, you are part of ISIS. When you are denying Muslims access to your land just because of the awfully silly fear of them turning on you, you are helping ISIS. Whenever you attach the religion to the terrorist attacks that have occurred over the years, you are helping ISIS. When you participate and accept the refusal of people in need of help, you are helping ISIS. When you are claiming that bringing in refugees, even little children, from Syria because it’s close to the combat zone, you are still helping ISIS.
That picture from the beginning of this article, is that of a woman in Syria, probably pondering why despite over 160,000 being killed and thousands of buildings being rocked to the ground, we are still debating as to whether or not we should help.
ISIS is formed and maintained because of the deep pockets of racism and phobias that unfortunately still exist. Since 9/11, the American outlook of Muslims has been overall horrendous. People have been killed because they associate with the Muslim religion. Mosques have been burned to the ground because of merely existing. As I am typing this, a woman in Toronto was attacked because she was wearing a hijab. All she was doing was waiting for her kids to get off of school. And guess what, hundreds more will die in the Middle East and Africa as ISIS continues pounding cities full of innocent people---while crappy states like Alabama will continue their attempts to block any semblance of help.
If these so-called radicals are anti-Christian, then why attack totally random groups of people? Wouldn’t it make more sense for people starting a religious war to target certain people specifically? I can assure you many Muslims were killed and affected in the Paris attack. And just like what happened back in January, Muslims also helped save lives in the midst of all the violence. Do some reading, the stories are indeed there. Billions of Muslims exist all over the Earth, and for the most part, the 99.9% of them are wonderful people that is part of the population in the Middle East that needs our help.
There’s no way I see terror in the eyes of my current neighbors, which is a very kind Muslim family with beautiful children that has delivered nothing but smiles whenever we greet each other. And the other reason why the Muslim/ISIS connection has been so strong, it’s because unfortunately the group has been quite successful and organized in recent times. While the Westboro Church, KKK, Neo-Nazis and even Al-Qaeda has fallen in respect despite being similar in religious hatred tone, ISIS has risen the global fear charts with its demonic and particular way of spreading the horror.
The United States was founded by people escaping the nonsense brewing in England back in the 1600s, back when kings and churches were wildly out of control in power. And for centuries we have had different waves of people from all over the world escape their origins and their cultures to enter here and establish a new life of their own. I am a descendant of an escape from my beautiful country when it was going through a very nasty point that is rarely discussed outside the island. Back in the mid-20th century the Dominican Republic engaged in a civil war that followed decades of dictatorship that reached such an alarming level the United States got involved. Almost every person you see in the United States has a family history that involves escaping or leaving a rough situation and winding up in North American soil.
The United States was founded on refugees. So why are we denying this opportunity to others just because of where they are from, how they look, and what supposed violence they might bring? Not doing the right thing because of a specky smidge of a chance of a backlash is cowardly.
Would you stop sending your kid to school because of the chance of a school shooting? Will you stop purchasing food because of the chance that you won’t like it? Will you stop going to baseball games because of the chance that you will get hit by a fly ball? The pre-emptive action of not helping because of what might happen is punishing millions of people, making them guilty only by association. You’d think a nation that believes in innocent until proven guilty would know better, right?
I have been arguing about this for the past several days, and it’s honestly made me sick to my stomach how cold people can be. You are shutting the gates to people escaping the bulls of oppression, poverty, grimness, violence, and death. The United States should be open to receiving anyone that is willing to start all over, start a new life, and contribute to the American society. There are thousands of great people just looking for a chance, just looking for that light to the end of the tunnel. Are we really going to deny them that opportunity just because of a few bad seeds that have decided to end their lives on a cowardly and murderous note?
When you coward and hide, ISIS wins. When you discriminate, ISIS wins. When you ban people from entering your land because of whatever reason, ISIS wins. We can’t let this keep happening. We can’t let any type of minority feel oppressed just because of the color of their skin, and the name of their God. Ice Cube is Muslim, so is Shaq and Dave Chappelle. Do you see terrorists in them? No, because you know them, you’ve seen them, you’ve spent time with them indirectly through music, sports, and television. Perhaps if we spent more time knowing the people trying to run to us, perhaps if we spend time acknowledging and trying to actually learn more about the second-largest and fastest-growing religion in the entire planet, then we would be more open-minded about the concept and about the people that follow the teachings of Allah. But we have to be willing to make that step, make that effort, make the commitment to treat everyone equally, to accept everyone equally, and realize that no one religion causes the terrorism, but instead it’s the lowest of the low that decide to take lives for no logical reason. I don’t associate the folks behind 9/11, the Paris shooting, and the Madrid bombing with anything except evil.
If you want to continue claiming that the United States is first and foremost a Christian nation (or a free nation in general), then start behaving like one. And it’s not just the Muslims escaping the war zone, it’s not just people from Syria---which by the way has 2.5 million Christians also in need of escaping. I’m also talking about people from Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Mexico, Russia, Kenya, Rwanda and any other place experiencing some harsh times. I'm not saying that I've personally have done everything I can to help, but I do donate weekly to charity, and with me writing this I can hopefully change your mind on the subject. I want you to reconsider. I definitely don't have all the answers on how to help and how to successfully perform the action of the transferring of refugees, but I am making that faithful first step by stepping up and exclaiming that we must do something. This is not a burden or potential for danger---opening our borders to help is simply the right thing to do. Remember that dictator on the Dominican Republic? Even he knew the importance of cultural diversity, acceptance, and reaching out to help others in need when he opened up his island to people escaping World War II and other wars. In modern day Dominican Republic, there's actually a Chinatown in the capital city. The anti-Haitianness of Trujillo's rule will be a discussion for another day...
We need to help each other. We need to stop being selfish. We need to worry about others just as much as we worry ourselves. The United States despite what people might tell you, is doing quite well financially and as a global power. Not saying the country is perfect (The pockets of racism that popped up all over the United States under the Obama years is alarming), but it is far stronger a nation than most. Other nations are less fortunate. Instead of handing out bombs, we should reach out our hands, and help our neighbors. We need to work together, face the fear, face the terrorism, and keep our heads up and rise against the oppression, and rise against ISIS. But as long as we remain toxic on the mere concept of just helping people outside our borders, we will continue allowing ISIS to rule and reign on our consciousness.
Be better. Seriously. All of you, be better.
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