New Atlantis or Aryan Jesus?: A Novel Vision Corroded by Terror
In a small group activity regarding mental health on college campuses this evening at NC State University, I was fascinated by the words of one young lady. She was in hijab, so given my nature, I asked her how things were following last week's terror attack in France. After she looked over at her friend, also in hijab, she begin to share a story. Earlier this week, one of her veiled Muslim friends got cut off while driving so she honked at them. The driver, who happened to be a white male, got next to her the next stop light and berated her and proceeded following her to work, where she called the police. She then told me that while Islamophobia isn't a new occurrence, the Muslim community is becoming continuosly more fearful that their homes will soon be affected by bigotry.
I believe in the power of the narrative, and this anecdote continued to whet my scorn toward prejudice. It also strengthened my love and bond with my fellow human. The courage of the American Muslim, the veiled female, in particular, is profoundly inspiring. While I may not ascribe to a belief of a deity possessing the predominant character traits of the Abrahamic God (omnipotent, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent), her courage to publicly attest her Faith everyday is virtuous. For a culture that has contributed limitless resources at defeating Terrorism globally, it's certainly paradoxical that our own citizens have to go to sleep at night and try to assure themselves that their families will make it safely through the night. Meanwhile, one of the leading politicians of a particular party compares them to dogs and implies the 1st Amendment ought to be revised to exclude Muslims; the other suggests we force them to registrer in a database and revoke their 4th Amendment rights, reminiscent Berlin circa October 1938. What was that about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness again? How has our culture tacitly allowed 'equal' and 'sacrosanct', to be replaced with 'only Christians need apply'? I don’t remember this young lady’s name, nor is it likely that I’ll never speak to her again, but many thanks to her and everyone like her who continues to boldly celebrate everything that this country is about. Stay proud and continue to inspire. One love.
De Oppresso Liber
Yours for the causes of Justice, Peace, and Humanhood, Vexillarius VII