November 18, 2015
The faith of the international community is shaken. After a heart-wrenching string of deliberate terrorist attacks, hundreds of families around the world are mourning the deaths of loved ones. With renewed vengeance, agents of evil are cutting swaths of destruction around the world. They are snuffing out innocent lives by the hundreds in city streets, sabotaging commercial jets, and stirring up an atmosphere of strife, fear, and paranoia. Right now, they are winning.
Predictably, the Internet is abuzz with Islamophobia, outrage over media coverage, and the political repercussions from ISIS's murderous campaign.
I figured instead of firing off a long, winding piece that echoes what the nation has already been saying, why not throw in some inspirational quotes? So I did. Whether to appreciate them or not is completely up to you.
"If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Today, we are quick to blame for the atrocities committed against us. We cannot be so impulsive as to exact justice as blindly as those who saw fit to exact injustice upon us.
Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche cautioned against the dangers of vengeace. There is possibly no better example in popular culture than Star Wars to illustrate this. When staring into the abyss - or more explicitly - using anger to cope with turmoil, it can consume somebody with negative emotion. Regarding Star Wars, this is how Anakin Skywalker descended into the evil persona of Darth Vader. His son (so far) has managed to leave hatred out of the equation.
In the real world, however, the distinction between radical ISIS Islamist and everyday Islam is becoming the breaking point at which many people are directing their rage and hatred. But hate leads to pain and destruction, often at the same magnitude at which it was subjected upon the victims in the first place.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
- Edmund Burke
Contrary to the Boondock Saints reference, vengeance is still an unwise thing to pursue. But electing to not react at all to injustice is tantamount to disrespecting those who have been wrongly done.
To that end, the forces of evil are bound to continue oppressing the weak. A scene on the popular cult hit Boondock Saints features a priest decrying the slow death of a woman who, despite the presence of onlookers, perished from her wounds without any assistance from several onlookers. And so were born, the Boston vigilante assassin brothers, the Boondock Saints.
In real life, ISIS is not a threat that is waiting for us. We have been waiting for them, and the consequences are now sadly apparent. How successful the international efforts of the world's armed forces will be in quelling their virulent existence is unknown, and frighteningly so, but they definitely have the world's undivided attention.
"The word 'Islam' means 'peace.' The word 'Muslim' means 'one who surrenders to God.' But the press makes us seem like haters."
- Muhammad Ali
- Muhammad Ali
Is painting the image of nearly a billion people entirely as killers, womanizers, and barbarians logical?
Islam has unquestionably become the most embattled major religion throughout the world. And from a lack of public understanding that is exacerbated by an irresponsible media, the most ruthless and barbaric people who masquerade as its true followers are allowed to overshadow the best people that the religion has to offer. So is the majority of the religion's Middle Eastern roots and international presence more inclined to celebrate the demise of Western culture?
Even if a majority of Muslims were *hypothetically* prone to engaging in malevolent activity against democratic nations, the question of how to preserve the ideals of democracy while also reassuring our prejudices through action would fray the national conscience. Because people like Muhammad Ali, once an arrogant boxer and native Kentuckian, is now a devout follower and advocate for Islam. And chances are, he usually wants the United States to win at the Olympics...like the rest of us.