http://ca.news.yahoo.com/officials-us-rep-giffords-shot-attack-wounded-several-20110108-111628-113.html
Two very different news stories surfaced today, one emblematic of the culture of extreme hate that has proliferated our Western Political culture. The other, comes from the Eastern part of the world that many in our supposedly free-thinking society have written off as barbaric and medieval.
Gabrielle Giffords, a democratic Congresswoman from Arizona was shot and critically wounded today by a would-be assassin. But the indiscriminate shooting of the assassin killed 5 other people including a federal court judge and a nine year old child.
Ms. Giffords has spoken out in support of homosexuality, same sex marriages and in favour of President Obama's Health Care bill and against Arizona's controversial Illegal Immigrant bill. . As a result of her vocal support for civil rights, her office had been been vandalised and a gun was found at another gathering such as today's.
Many in the media are looking at a map that was posted on "Tea-Party poster-girl",Sarah Palin's web site that placed "cross-hairs" such as would be found on a rifle scope, over twenty Democratic Representatives including Ms.Giffords along with the message that Republicans need to reclaim these lost seats. A subsequent message by a Palin follower was left on Ms. Palin's Facebook account saying that Giffords "deserved to die" because of her leftist views.
Many, including the Pima County Sheriff in Arizona where the shooting took place, are openly blaming the culture of narrow minded hate that has proliferated the ultra-conservative way of thinking in North America today. Now it it very unlikely that there is any connection what so ever between Palin, the Tea-Party and this shooter. But the climate of narrow minded hate exists because of these kinds of ultra conservative thinkers. Whether one is the product of the other remains to be seen. The shooter, Jared Loughner appears at first blush, to be a very disturbed individual. Videos on his YouTube channel indicate someone who is obsessed with "currency" time and the Constitution. His motives then may have nothing what so ever to do with the Politics of the extreme Right. But at this point, they remain very much a mystery.
And we here in Canada should not feel the least bit smug about our own society. The culture of narrow-minded fearmongering and hate is rapidly taking shape here as well thanks to our Evangelical-Reformist Prime Minister and his followers. Intolerance toward other religions and cultures are becoming the order of the day as reflected in Canada's current policies regarding foreign affairs and immigration. And a former aid to Prime Minister Harper, Tom Flanagan stated on National T.V that Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks should be "assassinated". Of course Mr. Flanagan has since claimed that his comment was made as a joke, but never the less, it has become far too easy for those of us in the Western World to call for the death or torture of anyone who presents a dissenting voice. Mainly because we are all so out of touch with the realities of assassination and violent death.... until today.
All of which brings me to the second story of the day. Thousands of Muslims using them selves as "human shields" so that Coptic Christians could attend Christmas Mass in Cairo and around Egypt.
This gesture was the result of a long history of sectarian violence against the Coptic faith in Egypt, including the bombing of a Coptic Church on New Year's Eve that killed 21 and instilled fear in Coptic Christians world wide. But Egyptian Muslims who make up the majority of the population, have had enough and were willing to put themselves in potential harms way so that their fellow Egyptians could celebrate their mass. Their rallying slogan being "we live together, and we die together". All around the country, Muslims have been changing their facebook icons to show a Christian Cross inside of the Muslim Crescent, a gesture of solidarity. Similar banners and flags have been sprouting up around the country in this rarest of displays of religious solidarity in a country that has been rocked by religious intolerance.
So on this day when violence, brutality and strong political views have rocked our supposedly civilised society, we should look to the east, to a Muslim dominated country for the most dramatic of examples of solidarity and Humanity. And I sincerely hope that the most extreme among us, can look upon and learn from this example. That we can ill afford to be arrogant and judgemental about people of different countries, cultures and religions. We have our own human failings just as much as they do. But we can learn from them as well. And we should feel humbled
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