the propeace community - An Open Letter to a Terrorist - Comments

Fear*Mongers

Rainbow Brain — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 18:03:48 -0400

There is little or nothing one can do for one who depends on a construct of evol to direct their actions so deeply, they will pass from the current reality without ever knowing complete truth, that is their path. One can however except the responsibility of why others hate the outcome of ones actions. The acts of living everyday life, within an economy based on competition and war, harms all*ways.

Do not fool yourself by thinking you did nothing to provoke a terrorist, for you live, you shop, you lend a portion of your power and energy to actions which construct evol.

Change*This and you will have changed the world.

Love*Rulz

Dear Christine

Susan Livingston — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 13:34:57 -0400

No clarification is needed; your thinking in the letter is loud and clear - and very touching. My response was not stream-of-consciousness or even spontaneous. In fact, it was a real struggle - a dirty job, but somebody had to do it if we claim to value compassion and wish to "walk the talk."

I agree with you that all children are born innocent, and it hurts me to know that the innocence of the terrorist is violated at a pre-verbal level so that they are unable to hear us. In fact, according to the No-Spank people, we can't even reach them non-verbally because "the body remembers." If we can't reach them verbally or non-verbally, then what are those of us with compassion to do? It is as if the inner child of the terrorist has had a total frontal lobotomy!

All those who lost their lives on 9/11/01 - even the terrorists - have my compassion, but it took a lot of personal work for me to reach that point. How well I remember that day, less than three months after an unwarranted and totally unexpected attempt was made on my own life! How well I remember my fear for the safety of my extended family who live on Manhattan!

They don't call it terrorism for nothing; such acts strike at the foundation of our trust in our species. Even those who did not lose loved ones lost something very precious on 9/11/01 - our innocence. I only wish to remind those survivors who lost loved ones and those who gave so freely of themselves to reunite the injured with their families and recover the remains and effects of those who were lost that at least the innocents had led lives. The terrorists couldn't even make that claim, and in some sense, that makes the terrorists even more the victims.

"Blue in a Red State"

Response to "Blue in a red State"

sheflower — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 04:13:14 -0400

PEACE TO YOU.

I do understand all of which you speak, and I do not have any illusions of changing anyone with what I wrote. But everyone IS BORN as a child of innocence, and as I wrote, they are taught to hate, brainwashed by those around them into believing their God wants them to be all that you described until they are filled with hate... I'm sorry, but I find that extremely sad - for them, yes, but also for all of us, as we are their targets, and we did nothing to bring this severe hatred upon ourselves.
What I wrote was simply a stream-of-consciousness letter, trying to make some sense of everything, reacting to the most recent terrorist activities with a genuine, almost inner child-like questing for some comprehension... wanting to speak to the inner child of the terrorist. I wrote it because I needed to; it simply came pouring out of me and I just wrote what I was feeling.
It is, admittedly, a simple letter speaking to a much simplified subject and it is not intended to delve deeply into something more complicated and heartbreaking than anything we have ever experienced in our own "normal" lives.
And, at least during the time I was writing it I didn't feel the overwhelming hopelessness that hearing of more innocent lives taken usually instills in me, and I'm sure, in many of us.
I still believe that there was innocence in them once, even if for only a very short time, and it was to that innocence, and from my own, that I was speaking.
I hope that this helps to clarify my thinking regarding that letter.
Christine

Terrorist Response

Susan Livingston — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 17:47:41 -0400

I am a member of "the rest of the world," but I think I have some insight into the terrorist response, so I'll make a try at raising some compassion for these lost souls.

The innocent childhood described may be your childhood, but it is not the childhood of the terrorist. I had to withdraw from the newsletter and action alert service of Jordan Riak of Project NoSpank due to my empathic reaction to too much information, but if you can shield your heart, have a look at some of the research that shows how a terrorist is raised. He was never innocent. There was fear, not love, of significant others, and guilt, not love, for himself.

The God of love described may be your God, but it is not the God of the terrorist. The God of the terrorist is a jealous, powerful being that requires believers to perform sacrifices to earn eternal life. To consider that God is within him is blasphemy. God is "out there" or "up there." The soul of a terrorist like a scorecard; his God is the ultimate judge, and his score depends on the power - not the love, beauty, or good works - he demonstrates towards the infidels.

Peace and joy may be your goals, but they are not the goals of the terrorist. The terrorist, by definition, seeks to instill fear in others because then he will have their obedience and respect, just as his parents showed him. Peace and joy are dangerous because they are unknown and leave him vulnerable to attack. Guilt and pain may be uncomfortable, but at least he knows what to do with such feelings. He's had a lifetime of experience with those feelings.

If you truly want to understand the terrorist, you must not discount his "hateful love or love of hating" because that is all he has. Without that, he is empty, useless, worthless. The world of the terrorist is full of lust and corruption - the things his God hates. There is no regret in being the punishing agent.

If you knew the world view of the terrorist, you would understand that all of the assertions about what is and is not the case are falling on deaf ears. The answers to those questions have been given to him long ago by people with much more power and authority than you have ever known. Very quickly in your discussion, you will find yourselves reduced to "yes it is" "no it's not" "it is too;" "it is not"....

"Blue in a Red State"

Your nice letter..yes, I am the author

sheflower — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 10:53:23 -0400

PEACE TO YOU.
Dear Jason,
Thank you for your very nice letter regarding my letter; your comments are worth reading - not simply for myself, but for anyone out there... Yes, I am the author; I wrote it about a week ago and was encouraged by friends and family to try to get it published somewhere. I sent it to the op-ed sections of the NY Times, NY Newsday, and to the SF Chronicle on Sat. morning, but I'm doubting I will hear from them... we'll see... Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Christine A. Laverty
sheflower@mail2artist.com

Thank you, sheflower, for pos

Jason White — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 09:17:07 -0400

Thank you, sheflower, for posting this. Are you the author, Christine A. Laverty?

It's difficult to understand what might be going on in the mind of someone who would commit acts of terrorism. I imagine that they are well beyond the realm of logic and reason and are off on some righteous, fanatical tangent somewhere. I hope that letters such as this "Open Letter to a Terrorist" can somehow reach them and penetrate their seemingly closed and corrupted minds.

The closing of the letter is striking, too, signed by "the rest of the world." It marginalizes the terrorist and reminds us that we are dealing with a very, very small minority of people who behave in this manner. That doesn't diminish the devestation they have brought. But we can reflect that the vast majority of people on the planet want peace, sustainence, safety for their children, opportunity for growth, the experience of love and connectedness, among other things. When we reflect on these values in light of terrorist acts, we can see that we have a whole lot in common and our differences are petty in comparison. Hence the unity felt by "the rest of the world" after terrorist acts. Our challenge is to consistently seek and maintain that unity without terrorist acts having to occur to remind us to do so.

Any terrorists out there wish to respond? How about members of "the rest of the world"?

Regards,
Jason.

An Open Letter to a Terrorist

sheflower — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 03:45:46 -0400

An Open Letter to a Terrorist Can you remember being a child of innocence? Do you recall having dreams for yourself? Can you remember loving your parents, your siblings, your grandparents, your friends... ...Yourself? Do you recall the first time you felt your God within you? Can you still truly feel Him?...