A Ban is the wrong path
Today I am going to say something that may not be popular to some. I am deeply troubled by what I see in the United States regarding the new administration, and I am equally troubled by some people’s acceptance of it. Now, before anyone says, "You're just a naive Left Winger." let me qualify my position by saying that I am and probably always will be a conservative. I am extremely supportive of stopping terrorism, and I support our military in actions to stop Neanderthal groups like ISIS or Al-Qaeda.
What I find troubling about this new attitude is that it reminds one of the past. The broad brush statements of a leader, who generalizes about specific groups and vilifies them, draws back to post Great War when the German population was out of work, hungry, beaten down after war of attrition. Out of that misery, rose a leader who spoke of National pride (make America Great Again) He vilified the immigrants of Poland, Gypsies, Jews (Mexicans and Muslims). He wanted to sequester and register them. (implementing immigration bans based on country of origin). Basically, what he did was instill fear into the masses and victimize a demographic of people based on that fear.
Is the West facing a constant terrorist threat? Sure, but such threats do not just come from Muslim groups. There are plenty of right wing anti-government groups that pose a clear and present danger to Americans. Historical examples of these groups are plenty. The Oklahoma Bombing was born out of anti-government sentiment after the Waco, Texas raid on Camp Davidian. ATF agents served a warrant to arrest the cult leader David Koresh which resulted in a 51 day seige that ended in a raid that resulted in 80 dead of which 22 were children. As retaliation for this and what they believed to be unwarranted government actions (Google Ruby Ridge) Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, both ex-military, devised a plan to blow up a government building in the city of Oklahoma. They did exactly that. The bomb detonated killing 169 and injury over 600. Of the 169 dead, 19 were very young children. The Oklahoma Government Building housed a daycare.
There are many more examples of home-grown terrorists, some Christian fundamentalist, some anti-government, some eco-terrorist, some who feel their right to own and carry fire-arms is being attacked, even cults. Imagine if we suddenly had a registry for anyone who observed the Christian religion based on the many examples of extremist who were neither the leadership or representative of said religion. There are plenty of examples, Jonestown, Waco, even the Manson Family’s murders were based on Charles Manson’s claim that he was Jesus Christ, that Helter Skelter was a prophecy born out of the Beatles White Album in which an impending race war was imminent. By today standards, the Tate and LaBianca’ murders could very well be deemed a terrorist action and the Family a terrorist group.
Terrorism exists, that is a given. As I write this, a Mosque in Montreal, Quebec was invaded by two suspects carrying weapons and the death toll is at six. Their motivation is yet to be revealed, but it was a terrorist act.
Coming back to Muslims, why are they any different from the Christians at Waco or Jonestown, why are they as a demographic being vilified? It’s simple really. First, they look and dress differently than us, brown skin, traditional clothing, they often speak in their mother tongue. So, this in itself raises suspicion.
Example, I served in the Canadian Military and instructed at Artillery School in Canadian Forces Training Center Gagetown. There we had both English and French members, when the francophones spoke amongst themselves, there was an air of suspicion that some might be talking smack about their English counterparts. This wasn’t the case, but the ignorance of the language promoted the myth.
Now, let’s look at what we are inundated with on the 24-hour news cycle. When a terrorist act occurs the first thing any of the news orgs go to are groups who are sympathetic to the cause. Death to America groups, who are clearly ignorant, uneducated and thousands of miles away. After 911, CNN ran footage of Al Qaeda gassing a dog, then went on to inform the fearful post 9-11 public on how to tape up your windows or doors in the event of a chemical attack. We are fed this type of fear by the heaping spoonful every day we turn on the news. You can go on You-tube and watch ISIS beheading videos, frequent forums that talk about sleeper cells (by the way, has anyone ever seen evidence of a sleeper cell that woke up?). There’s talk of dirty bombs and honor killings.
Am I saying that this stuff doesn’t exist? No. What I am saying that is this. Most Muslims don’t want anything other than to pursue the same dream as the rest of us. Raise a family, buy a car, a house, maybe start a business and live in relative safety. I’ve got a very good friend who I have known since I was 10 who just happens to be Muslim. He is the typical Canadian, he is a business man, he’s a humanitarian man, and he is community minded. He also happens to be one of the most articulate individuals I know and sense of humor? Man, he can make you laugh. He is neither a terrorist or an extremist.
To think that he and his family could be the subject of a ban based on their choice of religion or their country of origin is so very troubling because it is victimization and goes against the very grain of what was once deemed THE AMERICAN DREAM.
Is this how to make America Great Again?
And it smells folks, smells of racism, of exclusion, it is like using an atomic bomb to blow up an enemy position. It is the final solution of the ignorant and afraid. Worst of all, it is exactly what the Neanderthal’s of Isis and Al Qaeda wanted. They have created fear and terror, and by extension, the government, the media, and the fearful public have played right into their hands. There is no better way to fan the flames than to point to America and proclaim it to be a state of apartheid. There is no better way to take a young Muslim man or woman who was born and raised in the West and turn them into a terrorist by stripping them of their basic human rights.
There is so much I could say on this subject, but I am going to close it out here. We must speak out against exclusion, and if we are fearful due to ignorance, we should further our endeavor to extinguish that ignorance by educating ourselves. These policies will not make America great again, they will not make the world a more peaceful place and they will, increase terrorism and fear.
Speak out against this.
That will make not only America great, but the world.
