I am totally opposed to ISIS, ISIL, Da’esh, as well as the Taliban and any other violent extremist group (VEO). That’s easy enough to say or to write, and many would agree with me. Do our actions support this?
VEOs are intolerant of those who do not adhere completely to their beliefs, but listen to talk radio, watch cable news, or political advertising in America.
VEOs believe in killing someone who has disgraced their honor; every day I see news stories about someone being killed because they “disrespected” someone at a party.
VEOs use violence to claim an area as their own, yet our own cities are splattered with gang graffiti defining who controls which turf.
VEOs claim that their religious beliefs are the only righteous ones, and every other belief is false. Have you ever heard of a Christian sermons saying the same thing?
VEOs kidnap women to be used as sex slaves, but we haven’t stopped human trafficking, in which women are forced into prostitution and owned by their pimps.
VEOs have elites. They preach jihad suicide, but would never do so themselves. Here, celebrities, athletes, and politicians expect to be treated differently from everybody else.
VEOs lie, cheat, and steal in the name of their god. There are many Americans whose god is greed and act the same way.
The difference? There are those who seek to serve themselves while some seek to serve others. The Golden Rule, “Treat others as you want to be treated” needs to be taken out of storage, dusted off, polished up, and put into practice on a much larger scale. That is what will make us different.
sfnowak 