Editor,
Yes, Virginia, terrorism is a symptom.
It's time to talk about causes and effects. It is relatively common knowledge among the non-brain-dead that terrorism is a symptom, not a cause. And it's not even a complicated symptom. It's simple to see that Middle Eastern hot-houses of terrorism are fertilized with hopelessness and fear.
It's hard for us to even imagine that world - hate, war, death, danger, bombs, revenge and so on. The only things that are upwardly mobile are pieces of your body. Trashed schools, trashed businesses, trashed families and perhaps most of all, trashed options.
All this is opposed to a compassionate and rational foreign policy that helps folks have a reason for living. Life support for the cultural infrastructure would be nice, so they can think about their children's future again - and taking vacations and reading and gardening. So they can leave the fight-or-flight horror of brute existence and start feeling civilized again.
International surveys show that the great majority of the Islamic world is disapproving of terrorists. These self-styled holy warriors - that obscene contradiction in terms - have their own political agendas, so why don't we cut off their roots?
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Why don't we take away the fertilizer that grows such monstrosities? Why don't we prove to the more than one billion Muslims that most Americans aren't on some insane third millennia crusade and that we have hearts and can empathize with their anguish?
In fact, why don't you do that, President Bush? Even if you're an illegal president, you're still out there speaking for us, so show a little compassion and act civilized - sound it out - for once in your life.
Look, let's say it very slowly.
"George is a person."
"A Muslim is a person."
"We don't want to die."
"They don't want to die."
"We want to live a civilized life."
"They want to live a civilized life." Got it?
We're all God's children, right? So can we please stop pouring gasoline on fires? Can we please start relating to these people as our brothers and sisters?
W. Christopher Epler
UNM staff
