A week ago Saturday morning I felt guilty waking up to a beautiful day.
It didn’t seem right I could go about life when across the world hundreds were mourning those killed the night before in Paris.
But life has a funny, almost tragic, way of moving on and I’ve gone through the gamut of emotions over the days.
At first it was anger, and I advocated the United States wage war against the terrorists associated with the Islamic State.
My kids were shocked and tried to talk me down from such a hawkish stance.
“Do you really want the Iraq war all over again?” Tim asked.
“War is what ISIS wants,” said Aaron. “It justifies their stance that they are being persecuted. They want an ideological battle between the East and West.”
ON WEEKENDS I try to be outside as much as possible. If I’m lucky, I catch sight of a resident heron that swoops down from the treetops and skims along our span of the creek, silently flapping its enormous wings.
Last Saturday I held my breath as two herons appeared, flying side-by-side just above the water’s surface. And all this time I had thought there was only one. It was so beautiful it made my heart sing, but hurt at the same time. Such beauty overwhelmed my senses.
And I suppose the reverse is what happened after Paris.
They must be hunted down, I thought. But the hate tasted so vile I couldn’t stand it.
I’m not so naïve to think these terrorists are open to reason, but I don’t believe the best tactic is for the U.S. to bomb its strongholds to smithereens.
To make the greatest impact, other Muslim nations must lead the effort against ISIS. Together, they must renounce the radicals.
And as a region, they also must look in the mirror to see how their own countries continue to subjugate their people, especially women.
In Saudi Arabia, for example, women are not allowed in public without a male chaperone, they are not allowed to drive, cannot hold a job, are publicly stoned for committing adultery, etc. There’s no immigration. Foreigners employed in low-level jobs are treated as slaves. And the only public worship allowed is in a mosque.
It’s just a matter of degrees between Saudi royalty and ISIS terrorists.
THAT ISIS is able to extend its campaign of terror to a global theater is symptomatic of a people who have been oppressed and have been convinced their only means of retribution is through jihad.
They got there because their countries have done a lousy job of providing adequate security, adequate employment, and adequate freedoms. And those who have Muslim populations are doing a lousy job of treating them as equals.
So are we to go to war again? Probably inevitably. But the fight should be against tyranny, while we make every effort to model what a just and humane society should be.
