Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 was a tragic day. Not for me specifically--I happened to have a very good day -- until I found out about the terrorist attacks on Paris. Then, after reading every article I could realting to the attacks, I couldn't stop thinking about them. How could anyone human wish to do this to innocent people? Why would anyone do this to others?
I do not know the answer. I'm sure the answer is complicatedly interwoven through politics, religion and personal ethics and morals--a whole 'nother article. All I know is that, even though it did not happen to me or anyone I knew, I feel for the people of Paris. I feel like crying for them, but I can't. I'm in shock and I'm angry.
I cannot explain why this happened. I cannot tell anyone the solution to this. But I think there are important lessons that we can and should take away from the Paris attacks of 11/13/15.
1. It's not "us" vs "them."
In a way it is (Western Christianity vs radical Islam). But it's important not to generalize that all Muslims/Arab refugees are terrorists seeking to destroy the West. That's not true - despite how easy it is to point fingers and blame certain groups for bad things that happen, primarily due to a long and mostly unfriendly history with them. Despite the fact that blaming may be easier, it's not right. It's not the answer to fighting terrorism.
2. A fight for humanity.
To go off of my first point (above), it's not "us" vs "them." It's a fight for humanity. For the good in humanity, for the love in humanity and for the morality and beauty of humanity. These attacks on Paris are none of those - they were not good, not loving, not moral nor beautiful. They showed the dark side of humanity - the hatred, the radical beliefs where anyone who opposes must either convert or pay the price. To me, that is not humanity. These attacks were pure hatred and pure misunderstanding of other's cultures.
I do not have any answer as to how to fight this terrorism besides my stance that we ALL - all who believe in the good, the beautiful, the moral and the love of humanity, all who believe in peace among nations/religions/race/ethnicities/political stances/etc., all who believe that this radical type of religion must not live on - we ALL must band together. We must band together to fight this hatred and darkness. If we do not get over our differences - religious/ political beliefs/ etc - if we do not stop playing the 'blame game' - we cannot band together to fight this terrorism.
3. Love others and let them know.
The ability to love another is a beautiful thing. So love others and let them know. As they say, live in the moment, for anything can change in an instant.
4. Live your life to the fullest.
Whether or not you're religious or spiritual, every day we get to live is a great day. The miracle of life, of being alive in a vast universe of unknown miracles and beauties, is amazing in itself. Our world, our cultures, our languages, friendships, families, hobbies, jobs, are amazing. Each and every single living being is amazing. Life is amazing. It may sound cliché, but live your life to the fullest. Laugh, love and cry as much as possible. Listen to your favorite band, watch your favorite TV show, play your favorite sport. Do everything and anything you can when possible. Life doesn't stop for anyone.
Despite how horrible these attacks on Paris were, or any terrorist attack on any group or nation, I believe that humanity will live on and thrive. These attacks and hatred have no part in our future, nor should they ever. Despite how scary, and hard it may be to recover or move on from this terror, in order to survive and thrive, I believe we must. We are better than this hatred. Acts of hatred will always be prevalent, but when they take over our lives, or corrupt our minds with thoughts of retaliation through violence, then they will win. The bravest and strongest thing we can do is to band together, and live on with positivity and love.
#peaceforparis
