The scattered thoughts of a new mom.
There’s an appalling amount of hatred in this world. Take a few moments to just think about how much people really, truly hate each other. And sometimes, these are the very people who preach peace and love.
Two days ago, we remembered the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon from eleven years ago. And while each year a lot of people want to feel very victimized and get riled up in nationalism and spread hate about the extremist ideas that lead to these attacks, I’d rather honor the memories of those who died by mourning them peacefully and looking toward a brighter future. Unfortunately, the wound was reopened this year with the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Libya due to the production of the anti-Islam movie The Innocence of Muslims. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were brutally murdered in the riots that broke out over the movie. While I find the extreme response to the film incredibly violent and unreasonable, I cannot understand the angry call to exact vengeance on all Muslims. We Americans are extremely proud. We like to throw our weight around and decide what’s best for everyone. I think, we like to like to see our state as the Big Daddy of Earth. Well, if we’re going to run around like a helicopter parent, let’s be sure to parent with love. When your child hits you, how do you respond? Do you break his arm? Or do you look at an alternative punishment like lecturing him, denying his allowance, or grounding him? Do you make an effort to understand why your child hit you? Do you try to understand your child’s feelings? I think if we’re going to act like we’re everyone’s dad, we damn well better be a good and loving parent.
As a side note, the initial reading I did that compelled me to compose this post can be found here:
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