You May Have Missed It

You were asleep.  It’s alright, so was I.  When I got in my car at 6.30 the talk was of a speech that happened while the nation slept.  It is mostly our habit to ignore anything that doesn’t happen within the time zones that encompass our nation but this time it happened to make the radio and I happened to hear it on NPR.

The president spoke in Cairo a little over a week ago and I heard it a few hours later on the radio.  The portions that I heard were interesting, and well thought out but the one section that struck me was this:

Indeed, none of us should tolerate these extremists.  They have killed in many countries.  They have killed people of different faiths — but more than any other, they have killed Muslims.  Their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings, the progress of nations, and with Islam.

This line struck me for many reasons but by far the most profound thought I had was I’ve never thought of it like that before. If there is one point that I’d wish people every where to hear, it is that point.  I have had a little less than a dozen Muslim students pass through my classroom door and, other than the hajib they wear as a choice, they are as diverse as their peers.  Some are quiet, some are leaders, some are thoughtful, and some don’t participate in class.  I’ve always tried to reconcile the horrors of the world by thinking that not all Muslims are the same but I’ve never quite thought what the president said in Cairo.

Of all the things I want people to remember is that these extremists – these terrorists – aren’t waging war on America or the western world, they are waging a war on those who disagree with them, on the good and the sensible who wish for peace and prosperity.  These people are Christian and Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist, Muslim and Atheist, but mostly they are people.

I just wish it was that simple…

~Forth