Wednesday, October 11, 2006

I am Spartacus

Okay, enough gloom!

Here's something good- the Islamic Society of Nevada recently had an "I am Spartacus!" moment in this very powerful letter. The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq has issued an order to kill Americans. Okay, they say, then "kill us too".

I've seen quite a few statements like this, and I'm still wondering why they don't make the news. Not as dramatic for the home-viewers I guess as the rantings of hatemongers. But, this letter is surprisingly eloquent, and reminded me of some of the best humanist writings from the 17th and 18th centuries. Click and read the whole thing, okay? This part made me a bit teary-eyed. (You know, I'm pretty emotional in the Fall)

There is nothing common between you and us.

We stand for life, you want to destroy it.

We accept the divine scheme of diversity in the world and you want to impose conformity.

We respect every human being simply because he or she is a creation of the divine, and you hate people based on their religion and ethnicity.

We support freedom and liberty and justice, and you promote bigotry, murder and strangulation.

You will never be able to find a sympathetic voice amidst us. Our differences with others will never lead us to do things that are fundamentally wrong in our faith, i. e. taking the lives of innocent people and killing others because they are different.

So on Sept. 11, when you will be hiding in your caves, we will be out in the streets paying tribute to those who you killed because you failed to see the beauty of life.

The beauty of life! Indeed!

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