Learning Stories
by
Mario deSantis
mariodesantis@hotmail.com
“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, and free to choose those who shall govern my country.” - -The Rt. Hon. John Diefenbaker, Canadian Bill of Rights, 1960
“The whole judicial system is at issue, it's worth more than one person.”--Serge Kujawa, Saskatchewan Crown Prosecutor, 1991
“The system is not more worth than one person's rights.”--Mario deSantis, 2002
Ensign Stories © Mario deSantis and Ensign
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It is disconcerting to realize that both President Bush and the terrorists have invoked God to win their wars. President Bush has claimed that "freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them" while the terrorists were reminded to "remember the battle of the prophet ... against the infidels, as he went on building the Islamic state." I have the fear that this war on Terrorism will last forever, and that we have to live with the consequences, more innocent victims, more poverty, more hate. Rather than waging a war between 'freedom and fear' or 'against the infidels' it would be better for all of us to listen to our hearts. A New Yorker exclaimed " I'd hope that we're more sophisticated and think a little bit more rationally about how we're going to respond to this and not just kind of do 'an eye for an eye' sort of reaction. I hope we think it through." And more than three weeks ago the leading Arabic newspaper A-Hayat published this poem by Saudi Arabia ambassador to London "Children are dying, but no one makes a move. Houses are demolished, but no one makes a move. Holy places are desecrated, but no one makes a move.... I am fed up with life in the world of mortals. Find me a hole near you. For a life of dignity is in those holes." It seems to me that power and economic greed drive the never ending conflicts in the Middle East, yet the media bushes these concerns and our rational explanations blame Islamic fundamentalism for all this human despair. If for only a moment we could listen to our hearts and think about our future and our children I know we wouldn't have such conflicts and such human despair. We need justice and peace, neither a war between 'freedom and fear' nor 'against the infidels.' References Transcript of President Bush's address, CNN, September 20, 2001 http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/20/gen.bush.transcript Letter to hijackers 'shocking view' of their mind-set. Instructions from Atta, by Michael Higgins National Post, September 29, 2001 http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20010929/712400.html New York: City of sirens, by Greg Barrow in New York, BBC News September 12, 2001 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1540000/1540277.stm 'Why do they hate us?', by Peter Ford | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor September 27, 2001 http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0927/p1s1-wogi.html |
