You worry me. I wish you didn't.
Your hatred worries me. I wish that when I walked down the streets of this country that I love and I saw you walking, that I didn't have to worry about who you are blaming today. That I didn't have to worry that when the face of evil attacked our country on Sept 11, you just used it as an excuse to dust off your old prejudices, and promote your political views.
So I notice you now. At a time when we should be supporting the white, black, and brown fire fighters and policemen who gave their lives in the rubble of the WTC, I notice more racial slurs. At a time when we should be supporting both the military and humanitarian aims of our soldiers, I notice folks who oppose the food drops. At a time when we should be joining hands with all the Muslims around the world who have prayed for our families and expressed their support for us, I notice people screaming for the destruction of whole nations full of people who had nothing to do with Osama's gang of murderers.
I notice folks who pretend to be real Americans stating that they don't care how many innocent Afghani civilians are killed in the war, even though most Afghanis don't support the Taliban and still don't even know what happened on Sept 11.
I notice people who pretend to be Bible followers stating that it doesn't matter who gets killed as long as our country gets its revenge.
I notice folks on the Internet who pretend to be patriots exploiting the terror we've experienced - using it to promote their extremist political hatreds by blaming ex-Presidents for the attacks, by encouraging us to dissociate with anyone whose culture or skin color is different from our own, by trying to destroy the first amendment freedoms that make our country so unique.
I wish I knew that you believe in unity, and in this shining city on a hill that is our nation, in this beautiful melting pot of different cultures, and in the ideals that made our country great.
But I'm afraid that isn't always true for you. That you believe the only good American is a white American. That it's okay to ram pickup trucks through the walls of mosques in U.S. cities, or to perform cowardly acts like gathering with your racist friends to beat some Arab American to death. That we shouldn't admit to the truth, that we've made mistakes in the past. I worry that you don't have the courage to act like a real American, to stand up for people who look different than you, to protect the defenseless from angry, anti-American, militia mobs.
I don't want to be worried. I don't want to be consumed by the same rage, hate and prejudice that destroyed the hearts of these Arab terrorists and their American brothers, the murderous militia nuts who want to organize and wipe out their own government, or who want to kill anyone who "betrays their race" by marrying someone of a different color. But I need your help.
I want to know, I demand to know, if you love America. Do you recite the pledge of allegiance? Do you believe in the words "liberty and justice for all," meaning everyone, whether you originally came to America from Ireland, Germany, Israel, Palestine, Africa, Asia, Mexico or Saudi Arabia? Do you believe in the God of "one nation under?" Do you understand that our God loves starving Afghani children as much as He loves American children, or anyone else He created?
Then it's time for you to stand up.
When you hear someone using racial slurs to describe Arabs, it's time to stand up and say that millions of Americans have died for the principle of equality.
When you hear someone tell you that it doesn't matter how many innocent Afghanis are killed, it's time to stand up and say, "We don't sink to the level of terrorist animals. We don't kill innocent people. We're Americans."
When you see elected officials taking away our civil liberties in the name of "security," it's time to stand up and remind them that countless Americans have shed their blood to live in a free society.
When you hear someone using this tragedy as an excuse to bash Clinton OR Bush, or to further some Far Right political aims, or to stir up hatred toward loyal Americans of any ethnicity, it's time to stand up and tell them we believe in unity, and their ignorance is not welcome here.
When you hear some lunatic screaming that anyone who criticizes anything America has ever done is a traitor, it's time to stand up and say that our forefathers died for the right of free speech, and that America is strong BECAUSE we can air our differences, BECAUSE we accept the truth about our past mistakes and then correct them, BECAUSE we are free.
Until then, you worry me.
Even the Bible makes note that war sometimes is necessary. There are plenty of wars in the Bible. Killing the enemy in times of war, is not against Christianity.
Further, wanting to put away the radical Islamics who are in our country, illegally, with the intent of doing us harm (Jihad!) is not wishing for a lilly white country.
No, Mr. ReasonedVoice, you come here basically touting the same mischaracterizations that the left loves to make about conservatives, and you claim we worry you.
We should, because we are on to you, and the country is starting to see that we are right.
There is one home for bigotry and hatred in this country, and it resides on the left.
People like you used to worry me, because I was afraid that your lies would stick.
You worry me no longer.