Pushing the Limits of Sanity and Reason
The headline in today’s Jordan Times, Tuesday, August 29, 2006, which reads “Annan urges Israel to lift Lebanon blockade, handover of soldiers,” made me angry. After seeing, in vivid color, the horrors taking place in Gaza, Iraq, and Lebanon every day for the past month, we get this supposedly hopeful headline. Annan has to URGE Israel, implying begging or pleading, to lift their blockade against Lebanon. This isn’t a surprise for us who live in the Middle East. We know that The United Nations has no actual power to enforce a resolution that isn’t in the interest of Israel and its powerful allies. This is a fact, but knowing it does nothing to lessen my feelings of anger.
The practice of selectively implementing UN resolutions fuels one kind of reaction that is affecting much of the world now, not only the Middle East. We are threatened by violence from desperate individuals and fanatic groups who have nothing to lose. Their families – dead, wounded, emotionally damaged. Their property – bulldozed, bombed, stolen. Their ideology – twisted, perverted. Their hope – lost irrevocably, or almost. They still have hope that their chosen leaders will squeeze some justice out of their tormentors. We can’t blame them since all legitimate doors to redress their problems are closed.
And what about the majority of us who are law abiding, peaceful citizens? We instill in our children respect and obedience for the law and to adopt The Golden Rule. At the same time we must teach them to defend themselves because no child should suffer a bully. Yet the real world is full of bullies, and the organizations created to protect us from them have lost their credibility. The resolutions and conventions intended to limit man’s inhumanity and implement the rule of law have been agreed to by most nations, yet remain theoretical. Our governments may lie to us, steal from us, and make wars for our sons to die in, and, yet, we must teach our children to obey the law. The alternative would bring consequences for them that we wouldn’t want. This is an absurd contradiction, and yet, we have no other choice that I can see. We are living within the limits of strained sanity and reason. Will it always be so?
ASH
The practice of selectively implementing UN resolutions fuels one kind of reaction that is affecting much of the world now, not only the Middle East. We are threatened by violence from desperate individuals and fanatic groups who have nothing to lose. Their families – dead, wounded, emotionally damaged. Their property – bulldozed, bombed, stolen. Their ideology – twisted, perverted. Their hope – lost irrevocably, or almost. They still have hope that their chosen leaders will squeeze some justice out of their tormentors. We can’t blame them since all legitimate doors to redress their problems are closed.
And what about the majority of us who are law abiding, peaceful citizens? We instill in our children respect and obedience for the law and to adopt The Golden Rule. At the same time we must teach them to defend themselves because no child should suffer a bully. Yet the real world is full of bullies, and the organizations created to protect us from them have lost their credibility. The resolutions and conventions intended to limit man’s inhumanity and implement the rule of law have been agreed to by most nations, yet remain theoretical. Our governments may lie to us, steal from us, and make wars for our sons to die in, and, yet, we must teach our children to obey the law. The alternative would bring consequences for them that we wouldn’t want. This is an absurd contradiction, and yet, we have no other choice that I can see. We are living within the limits of strained sanity and reason. Will it always be so?
ASH
posted by joladies at Tuesday, August 29, 2006
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