Barack Obama
Related: About this forumBe not Afraid
Judith U @Autismville
To the stranger who took me into her home, gave me soup and tea to stop my shaking and a phone to call home, thank you. #BostonMarathon2013
We dont know who did it.
We dont know if he was a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew.
We dont know if he was left wing or right wing.
We dont know if it was done with a political purpose in mind, or if his mind merely snapped, lashing out at a society of which he wasnt a part.
At this point, we know nothing about the bomber at todays Boston Marathon.
But I will not cower in fear.
I will not listen to the ones with the megaphones who are already using this as an excuse to settle political scores.
I will not hide in my room, or acquiesce to give up a bit of freedom for safety. Giving up one rarely secures you the other.
I will not pound my chest and say that the answer is more guns on the street, so that were all deputized, armed, dangerous.
I will not let hatred blind me.
I will run towards the danger, like hundreds of citizens did in Boston.
I will open my home to those who suffered and lost.
I will stay resolute that fear will not prevail.
I will trust that this country will feel its way towards doing the right thing. It always, eventually, does.
Our instinct is to give up on our fellow humans. One of my first reactions was to root for global warming to do its worst.
But that hopelessness is the one thing which will condemn us to extinction.
Hope is what keeps humanity going; its the only thing keeping us from falling into the abyss. Once weve lost hope, weve lost what makes us human.
I will not lose hope.
We dont know what prompted the bomber to commit his act. But one thing we can assume with a clear certainty is that hope was lost in him.
I will not be that man.
I will not succumb to the thought that humanity is a cesspit, doomed to fall. One man bombed a race. Hundreds raced towards the explosions, to help out their fellow human beings. Im with them.
I will not be afraid. Thats when I lose.
****
Chips: Follow Liberal Librarian on Twitter and read him at The Peoples View
http://theobamadiary.com/2013/04/15/be-not-afraid/
annabanana
(52,791 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)The depth of those words from this wise woman still ring true:
'The game of politics is to make people so afraid they can't think.'
The fearful and cynical keep repeating Palin's 'How's that hopy-changy thing workin' for ya?'
It's working well for me and the people I know in real life. We know what our part in making this work is, and we know it's not easy.
In short, if youre still disappointed in Barack Obama, its only because you never understood whose job it was to produce change in the first place. But dont take out your own failings in this regard on the rest of us... ~Tim Wise.
Thanks for posting this, I'd never seen her giving a talk that was so long and explained the reasons for all of this.
Cha
(305,137 posts)Politicub
(12,287 posts)Thank you for posting it.
The liberal librarian rocks.