at the washington DC benefit concert last night, richard gere talked about compassion instead of revenge, and was booed from the stage. hillary clinton was booed so badly she couldn't speak. a firefighter told bin laden to kiss his ass and the house went wild with cheering. i'm finding it harder and harder to understand american sentiment, and it frightens me.

i'll say now that i'm not a fan of the taliban. their human rights record sucks, they're leeching off the people of afghanistan, and i have no doubts that they're responsible for what's happening now. however, the bloodlust of americans, their desire for revenge is frightening the hell out of me. the fact that violence and anger are rampant, and ideals of compassion are booed offstage is so alien to me. i feel like an outsider in my own country.

this is not to say that i don't support america, or the fight against terrorism. i understand that terrorism can't be allowed free reign in any part of the world, in whatever form it takes. it's awful that it took such a large-scale tragedy to make people realize this, and i hope that the war on terrorism doesn't stop with the taliban but continues to northern ireland, the ghaza strip, and the KKK. and i hope all the people who are attacking innocent muslims are prosecuted for hate crimes as well. i don't know still how i feel about dropping bombs on afghanistan. i don't know if i agree with the idea of a just war. it's true that i don't see many peaceful recourses when someone else has begun the violence and must be stopped. it's a good deal harder to be a pacifist in conflict than in peace time.

all the same, i think it's too easy to just wave a flag and sing god bless america and talk about bombing the hell out of people. it's a prepackaged response, and one that doesn't take a great deal of thought about consequences, about civilian casualties, and about motivations. (please address hate mail here. ) revenge is an emotional, gut reaction of anger and the desire to hurt. it is as far removed from justice as it is from compassion. i can understand the desire for revenge in some ways, believe me. but revenge is a double-edged sword. in hurting those who hurt you, you become like them. you hate like they hate, and that hate consumes you. and i want better than that for america. i want an understanding of what justice means. i want compassion, and caring. i want children raising money to send to afghanistan. i want sadness that any of this had to happen. maybe i want too much; i'll take anything but this ferocious bloodlust.

dona nobis pacem. -beatpoetgrrl

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