An Open Letter To Terrorists

An Open Letter To Terrorists

Where the power of love exists, no evil shall last.
Chandni Shroff
Chandni Shroff Jun 13, 2016
226
views

I don't know you. I don't know your name, I don't know your motivations, I don't know your story. I know of some of you, from the various accounts of attacks you execute to further your political agenda--the most recent being the Florida massacre of June 12. I speak to not one of you, but each one of you. To anyone who considers themselves a terrorist, or wishes to indulge in an act of terror. I do not speak to you with hatred, nor with fear. You do not deserve either. I look at you, instead, with pity. You lash out with violent, horrific attacks, while you hide behind a veil of anonymity and rationalize your actions under the guise of religion. You are a coward who seeks to destroy all that is good.

You are the enemy of humanity.

The Florida Massacre marked a horrific day in our history. One of you opened fire on hundreds of our friends, killing 49 and injuring 53 others. I didn't know these people personally, but we are tied through the bonds of humanity. They were people just like us. These individuals were attacked unprovoked, reasons unknown but potentially rooted in hate crime. They worked hard to make a living. They loved, and they were loved. They belonged to families, they had friends, and they cared about this country they lived in. This country, and our world has been changed by their loss.

Who knows what their futures held? One of them could have been a future president, another might have discovered the cure for cancer. Gone with them are their secrets, their knowledge, and their presence. They leave behind so many loved ones whose lives are forever altered with this loss. You didn't know them. They didn't know you. Yet in that moment, you decided to play the role of God, and attempted to strip as many innocent, wonderful souls of the one thing that was theirs: their lives.

You're insidious. You ravage, provoke, and destroy all that you touch. Like a deadly disease, you spread your infection across the globe in the hopes of tearing this world apart. Yet you forget one thing. In moments like this, where the world is being ravaged by a common evil, humanity unites. The world will stand as one, and your pathetic, insubordinate attempts at destruction will end. Good will always triumph evil, and you are the biggest evil in our world to this day.

You claim to follow God, yet no religion espouses the action of slaughtering innocents. There is no Islam in your attacks, no God in your actions, and no morality in your beliefs. In no manner do your acts of terror represent Muslims in any way.

Terrorism has no religion. No culture. No borders. No home.

Acts of violence towards others destroy the part of you that is human, that allows you to empathize and be compassionate. To feel love, to give love, and to appreciate the beautiful life God has gifted you. We are all children of God, so why would he want to pit you against his other sons and daughters? Through peace, understanding, and love, you can serve a cause and not be covered in the blood of the innocent. Through God's grace, nothing is impossible. Yet in pursuing these senseless acts of violence you evidently lose your belief in God and give up on happiness and love.

You may win a few battles, but you have already lost the war. The innocent people you kill lived fulfilling lives surrounded by love, happiness, and compassion. In your attempts to further your agenda and push forward with domination, you constantly burn in your personal hell. The blood you spill sentences you to an afterlife of eternal damnation. In that sense, you have lost before you have even begun.

You hit our cities, but you missed America. Our country is rooted in the idea of freedom, of ideological liberty and cultural growth. You may ravage our bodies, but you will never break our spirit. There will never be a day in this world where we succumb our freedoms to meet your demands.

My heart goes out to the friends and families of those who lost their lives a few days ago in this horrible incident. May God bless those we lost, and heal those who have suffered injuries. America will always stand as a symbol of freedom, democracy, and protection to her citizens and shine as a beacon of hope alongside the other nations in this world.

Where the power of love exists, no evil shall last.

Cover Image Credit: aveilofinnocence.files.wordpress.com
Chandni Shroff
Chandni Shroff Jun 13, 2016
At North Carolina State University

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An Open Letter to the Person Who Still Uses the "R Word"

Your negative associations are slowly poisoning the true meaning of an incredibly beautiful, exclusive word.
Kaitlin Murray
Kaitlin Murray Mar 15, 2016
227752
views

What do you mean you didn't “mean it like that?" You said it.

People don't say things just for the hell of it. It has one definition. Merriam-Webster defines it as, "To be less advanced in mental, physical or social development than is usual for one's age."

So, when you were “retarded drunk" this past weekend, as you claim, were you diagnosed with a physical or mental disability?

When you called your friend “retarded," did you realize that you were actually falsely labeling them as handicapped?

Don't correct yourself with words like “stupid," “dumb," or “ignorant." when I call you out. Sharpen your vocabulary a little more and broaden your horizons, because I promise you that if people with disabilities could banish that word forever, they would.

Especially when people associate it with drunks, bad decisions, idiotic statements, their enemies and other meaningless issues. Oh trust me, they are way more than that.

I'm not quite sure if you have had your eyes opened as to what a disabled person is capable of, but let me go ahead and lay it out there for you. My best friend has Down Syndrome, and when I tell people that their initial reaction is, “Oh that is so nice of you! You are so selfless to hang out with her."

Well, thanks for the compliment, but she is a person. A living, breathing, normal girl who has feelings, friends, thousands of abilities, knowledge, and compassion out the wazoo.

She listens better than anyone I know, she gets more excited to see me than anyone I know, and she works harder at her hobbies, school, work, and sports than anyone I know. She attends a private school, is a member of the swim team, has won multiple events in the Special Olympics, is in the school choir, and could quite possibly be the most popular girl at her school!

So yes, I would love to take your compliment, but please realize that most people who are labeled as “disabled" are actually more “able" than normal people. I hang out with her because she is one of the people who has so effortlessly taught me simplicity, gratitude, strength, faith, passion, love, genuine happiness and so much more.

Speaking for the people who cannot defend themselves: choose a new word.

The trend has gone out of style, just like smoking cigarettes or not wearing your seat belt. It is poisonous, it is ignorant, and it is low class.

As I explained above, most people with disabilities are actually more capable than a normal human because of their advantageous ways of making peoples' days and unknowingly changing lives. Hang out with a handicapped person, even if it is just for a day. I can one hundred percent guarantee you will bite your tongue next time you go to use the term out of context.

Hopefully you at least think of my friend, who in my book is a hero, a champion and an overcomer. Don't use the “R Word". You are way too good for that. Stand up and correct someone today.

Cover Image Credit: Kaitlin Murray
Kaitlin Murray
Kaitlin Murray Mar 15, 2016
At Bellarmine University

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Trump's Clemson Dinner Is A Metaphor For America

Is McDonald's really gourmet?

Olivia Satterfield
Olivia Satterfield Jan 18, 2019
674
views

On day 23 of the government shutdown, Trump treated the winners of the College Football National Football Championship to a gourmet meal of fast food. It made for many jokes on the Internet to see the country's best college athletes dining on greasy plates of McDonald's. It was like a scene from Talladega Nights; packets of sauces were placed carefully in silver gravy boats while candles were lit to show the decorum of the dinner. Trump stood back, proud of his cheap meal, claiming that this was exactly what the players wanted.

It wasn't.

The dinner comes after a horrific Christmas season of penniless paychecks for government workers and destroyed national parks left without upkeep. As the American people want answers to why a man could be so selfish in his ventures that he would sacrifice the entire country's wellbeing, he chose to serve champions of a sport the lowest tier of American food. It was a slap in the face, honestly, and shows what an embarrassment the man is for the country.

Trump's fast food dinner for the Clemson players is essentially a metaphor for what America endures under his reign. He abuses the country like the sleazy businessman he is; choosing the cheapest options, whether it be slicing essential government programs that deal with food safety and national parks, or passing off fast food as catering.

Looking deeper, the fast food, in all its highly processed, fattening glory, parallels the standard at which Trump runs his country. Rather than having well-thought-out plans of action, transparent procedures, and beneficial ideas for the country, he resorts to the disgusting parts of our government to form his ideas. He practices xenophobia, racism, and sexism constantly, which attracts like-minded people to his government. He stubbornly holds on to an idea of a massive, costly wall, when so many other ills of our country could use the money.

He feeds the American people lies and deceit, constantly peddling the idea of the outspoken man who does not need to care for others.

But it's just a dinner, right?

It could be easy to fall into the pattern of believing even the simplest of Trump's actions are small and insignificant, but that kind of rhetoric distracts from the bigger picture. Trump chose to feed the players a smorgasbord of fast food because funding for the White House was little to nothing due to the government shutdown. That would mean the feast would come out of his own pocket, and that is just simply unimaginable for the businessman.

He essentially suffered from his own actions and decided the American people should suffer even more.

Those Clemson players got dressed in their nicest suits and traveled hours out of their way to be shown just how great their athleticism was. They went right before the first week of classes, forfeiting any preparing for their academics. They took time out of their way to meet the supposedly "leader of the free world," only to be served what they could get for four dollars down the street.

Regardless of your political and social views, is this really what you want?

Olivia Satterfield
Olivia Satterfield Jan 18, 2019
At University of South Carolina

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