[Vision2020] "We are the answer"

Fri Mar 30 20:51:40 PDT 2012

If members of Christ Church were going around enslaving people, you 
might have a point.  As it is, they simply think that the historical 
facts of slavery differ from what's normally understood by historians.  
I'm not comfortable ostracizing a group merely because of what they 
think about something.  That seems to be the main point of contention, 
here.

There is a huge difference between murdering a person based solely on 
their race or culture, and thinking, well, whatever it is that the 
Christ Churchers think exactly about slavery in the Old South.  Or, more 
simply, between murdering anyone for any reason and thinking thoughts 
others find offensive.

Paul

On 03/30/2012 07:49 PM, Donovan Arnold wrote:
> Paul,
> You are right that everyone needs to work on caring and accepting 
> their neighbors for the people that they are. However, it should 
> concern you that some people do not acknowledge the human atrocities 
> that occurred with the slavery of a race not that long ago. A race 
> that even today feels and sufferers the consequences of those events. 
> It is in effect racist to not acknowledge the human suffering and 
> violations that occurred to a race of people. If we can ignore or 
> deceive others into ignoring one of the greatest human rights 
> violations in the United States, than we can easily ignore all other 
> human rights violations. Which, in effect, puts all humans, including 
> yourself and everyone you care about at risk. Where one person's 
> rights are ignored and violated, everyone else can be violated as 
> well. That should concern you. It is not the practice or belief in a 
> religion that people object to, but rather the practice of racist 
> preaching that the violation of human rights that occurred to Blacks 
> in the United States really didn't happen that people are objecting to.
> Donovan Arnold
>
> *From:* Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com>
> *To:* Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm>
> *Cc:* vision2020 at moscow.com
> *Sent:* Friday, March 30, 2012 6:59 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [Vision2020] "We are the answer"
>
>
> If black teenagers wearing hoods were being harassed here in Moscow, I'd
> be suggesting that we should all be more tolerant of others on this
> list.  If Muslim women in Moscow were being harassed I'd be suggesting
> that we should all be more tolerant of each other.  But if one
> particular faith is being singled out because of their beliefs and some
> bad blood between list members, I'm effectively shunned if I suggest
> that we be more tolerant of them.
>
> What a world.
>
> Paul
>
> On 03/30/2012 02:25 PM, Saundra Lund wrote:
> > Visionaries:
> >
> > I know not all here would agree -- some choose to focus on the 
> "intolerance"
> > of so-called Intoleristas rather than on the public intolerance of 
> bigoted
> > groups that galvanized some of us to pull our complacent heads from 
> the sand
> > -- but this eloquently and accurately reflects my thoughts:
> > "We must be active architects of a better country and a better world.
> > Silence in the face of bigotry and discrimination is agreement and 
> consent.
> > We must challenge every instance of inequality, no matter how small 
> it is.
> > While overcoming our history's dark side is not pleasant, it is 
> something we
> > must actively do every day."
> >
> > Here's the full letter that was published in today's Moscow-Pullman 
> Daily
> > News:
> >
> > Letter to the Editor
> > We are the answer
> > Posted: Friday, March 30, 2012 1:00 am | Updated: 8:22 am, Fri Mar 
> 30, 2012.
> >
> > My heart is deeply grieved by the recent news that Shaima Alawadi, 
> an Iraqi
> > mother of five living in California was beaten to death by a tire iron.
> > Found on her body was a note that said, "Go back to your own 
> country. You're
> > a terrorist." This incident shows the long-reaching effects the 
> political
> > rhetoric and rancor of the past 10 years has had on the American 
> psyche. A
> > spark of anger and hatred spurred by our popular culture and political
> > leaders has turned into a fire within the fringe of our country.
> >
> > Gay youth are committing suicide due to relentless intimidation and
> > harassment. Travyon Martin was gunned down for what some call "wearing a
> > hood while black." And the murder of Alawadi. All point to a startling
> > problem. There is a dark side of American culture. While it's 
> underground,
> > it's still there. A deep seated resentment of other races, of people 
> unlike
> > us, lies in the hearts of many. This dark side exists everywhere. I 
> cannot
> > count how many times I have heard racial, homophobic and sexist slurs at
> > sporting events, social gatherings, even in the work place and 
> classes. This
> > isn't just a problem isolated to my community, but it is ingrained 
> within
> > the very fabric of our society.
> >
> > It would be easy for us to give up hope, hope of a better tomorrow, a
> > tomorrow without wrathful hatred and reckless violence. But we 
> cannot. We
> > are the answer to the problem. We must be active architects of a better
> > country and a better world. Silence in the face of bigotry and
> > discrimination is agreement and consent. We must challenge every 
> instance of
> > inequality, no matter how small it is. While overcoming our 
> history's dark
> > side is not pleasant, it is something we must actively do every day.
> >
> >
> > Derrick Skaug
> > ASWSU Vice-President Elect
> > Pullman
> >
> > __________
> >
> > Indeed.
> >
> >
> > Saundra Lund
> > Moscow, ID
> >
> > The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people 
> to do
> > nothing.
> > ~ Edmund Burke
> >
> >
> >
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> > =======================================================
> >
>
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