Ive had a difference of opinion with some of my FB friends about the situation in Gaza and I really feel a need to make my position clear: I have no wish to enter into what will undoubtedly be an intractable back-and-forth argument on this subject with friends--but no amount of rationalization or equivocation put forth in defense of the violence on EITHER side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will change my opinion that the disproportionate level of military force leveled against the people of Gaza (combined with the the blockades, inequitable rationing of resources, destruction of existing homes to make way for Jewish settlements, and essentially third world conditions in which these people have lived for decades now) constitutes a violation of their Human Rights. Additionally, while I am certainly no fan of organized religion, and feel that it has in fact caused more human suffering and strife than it has ever prevented, I would never deny anyone the right to believe whatever they wish. I have many friends who are Atheists and Agnostics (like myself), but I also know many wonderful, tolerant, liberal-minded people who believe in many tenets of the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths, and I have no wish to see them painted with too broad a brush. And I definitely do not want to have comments posted to my wall that make even me feel offended on their behalf. I do not believe that ALL Muslims are (fill in the blank), or ALL Christians are (fill in the blank), or ALL Atheists/Agnostics/Jews/Buddhists et.al. can be summed up by oversimplified, prejudicial stereotypes and really hope every one of my friends can understand why I, and many of the truly wonderful people I know who do practice or believe in something spiritual--whether it be based on religion, science, nature or a combination of all three--might be hurt and insulted by being reduced to such ugly generalizations as the kind which discussion of the various conflicts in the Middle East invariably seem to provoke. I am honestly a Humanist in the broadest sense of the term, and as such, I try to look beyond the highly subjective considerations of religion, and look for the humanity in everyone, everywhere. Im not a fan of borders, which I see as merely random lines on a map, and I can never accept ideologies which advocate violence or harm to ANYONE in order for the validation or preservation of abstract concepts such as religion, race, nationality, or culture. I see only people, individuals who are each unique and born with NO notion of any of those abstractions, who are ALL deserving of a fair and peaceful place in which to grow and make a life for themselves, regardless of what they choose to believe--and I will never see violence as the way to achieve that. I truly hope we can all simply agree to disagree on this issue and remain friends.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 18:51:31 +0000
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