In my opinion both positions are equally valid. And Quinn is to be thanked
for posting the editorial which rallies our courage and provides a shared
sense of national identity and inspiration at a time that it is needed
most. We seem to be grappling with the aftermath of strikes by an
unseen enemy, fed only by the unending media frenzy. At some level
it is human nature to want to quickly "make sense of it all".
And attribute blame on an ideology, a political or racial or religious
group on whom we can *quickly* pin responsibility and then direct our emotions
and/or strikes at them. But I would hope we don't do this blindly,
emotionally or while we are enraged. Needless to say, the kind of
terrorismwe have either witnessed, experienced directly or indirectly in
the past few days is to be condemned unequivocally. At the same time
Mike is to be admired for having the courage to take a singular (and unpopular)
position which urges us to reflect on political and national positions
our politicians commit us to internationally. I doubt if anyone on
this listserv since this past Tuesday has even thought of the words "foreign
policy" that Mike refers to. Basically Mike's post urges us to be
reflective. As he states, "Talk of hatred and revenge will not help. A
precipitate and hasty response will
only increase the hatred." And there is clearly nothing wrong
with that.
Personally, I don't think that such issues should be considered beyond the scope of posting on this listserv. Without meaning to be facetious I would like to view what is happening in terms of the idea of "Person-Environment-Occupation". And it is self-evident what a devastating impact the deliberate and planned destruction of physical structures is having on our daily occupations, our unique individual perspectives, our sense of worth as human beings and our spirituality.
Biraj
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Please don't apologize for sending a message that you found inspirational. If anyone should apologize, I believe it should be Mike. I found his post incredibly insensitive, reading it while watching the tears streaming down the face of the CEO who lost 700 employees (including his brother) in the collapse of the World Trade Center, watching the family members desperately searching for any news of their missing loved ones, watching the fire fighting and law enforcement community deal with their devastating losses while continuing to sift through the rubble in desparate hope of finding survivors.Whether all of the foreign policies carried out by the USA and Britain are the correct ones or not(and I believe that Mike's portrayal is vastly oversimplified and one sided), there can be NO justification for the blatant act of war against the civilians of this country. Terrorism is unspeakably cruel and evil, and as in everything, the ends CERTAINLY do not justify the means.
I found the article in your post inspiring as well, and I am glad you posted it.
Ann
