Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Murder is wrong- and I'm going to kill you to prove it!

"I want justice...There's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,'"
- G.W. Bush, 9/17/01

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The moon was full and it was a quiet night in the desert. Inside one of the small adobe flats, a young boy was just being put to bed by his parents.

Suddenly armed troops burst into his room, shouting in a language he couldn't understand. They grabbed his mother by her hair and knocked his father unconscious with one of their assault rifles. The boy watched, screaming from his bed, as both parents were taken from him. He ran out of his room, trying to stay with his parents. Out in the street, many watched from their homes, too afraid to go out and see what was happening. The boy's mother was loaded into a truck while the boy's father was shot dead in the street.

The next day, footage of the boy's father being shot was played on all the American TV stations, followed by footage of American men and woman cheering and dancing in the streets. They shouted things like "We got him!" and "Justice has been served." They smiled at images of the mans blood pooling around his body. For these American citizens, their enemy had been brought to justice.

Back in the small desert town, the boy was filled with rage at what he had witnessed. Men with guns charging into his room, taking his mother and killing his father. And for what cause, for what reason?  The more he thought about this the more he was unable to let go of the feeling, the hatred. He felt violated and vowed to himself that the men who did this would face justice. The boy vowed vengeance.

When he became old enough, he dropped out of school. He found a group of kids who were also being motivated by their hatred towards the troops who invaded their homes. It was with this group that he felt accepted and understood. Finally he was around others who could share his pain. 

This group of teens began to train and started to move from town to town, trying to gain more support. All they wanted was to strike back at the beast that had taken someone from them, to show their enemy that they would not simply be walked on and not defend themselves, that they would stand up for their human rights and fight back. To these teens, they were the underdogs about to pick a fight with an evil super-power.

Every town they went to welcomed them and they soon gained a large following. There were many who wanted to join in their fight, who felt they had a heroic cause. 
 
A few years later they flew 2 planes into a couple of buildings in New York City. Back in the small desert towns, when the TV's showed what was going on in America, the people cheered and danced in the streets. They shouted things like "We get them!" and "Justice has finally been done." They smiled at images of burning bodies. For these Arab Citizens, an evil corporate government was finally getting a reality check. One need only look at the faces of these people to see the joy and happiness knowing their enemy had been attacked.

And in that same instant, a small young boy in America watched this unfold on television. He knew his father was in one of the buildings, knew that his dad would never come back home because of some evil army men in another country. He didn't know why his father was taken from him, for what cause, what reason? He dwelled on these thoughts, letting his anger control his destiny. 

He joined the army when he was old enough. He wanted to be on the battlefield, he wanted to put a bullet into a camel Jockey. He wanted to avenge his dad, to feel a sense of justice for what had been done to him. He might not ever get his dad back, but he'd kill as many people as he needed to in order to feel better about it.
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"An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind"
-Ghandi

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