An acquaintance of ours, that belongs to the same group as the Lady, mailed his group dues from his home in merry olde England; only to have it deposited in the US Postal Mail delivery system somewhere in or about the Twin Towers. It also happened that his wife was in NY on business on 9/11 and was in the lower level of one of the towers when the planes hit. She got out safely but was sickened and terrified by the horrible event for months. During the ensuing months of cleaning up of the mounds of debris, papers of every kind were recovered and yes, they found our friends dues letter and forwarded it to the proper address. During some business of my own with my English friend, I forwarded a "cling-on" American Flag window decal made using the printing ink from the company that I worked for. My decal and transaction arrived at the same time as the postal notification that his letter and dues check had been found and delivered. His wife placed the decal on the glass covering a framed picture of the towers and it now sits in their hallway.
The ripple effect of this tragic event was felt quickly throughout the world. With today's technology the size of the world was once again made smaller and reminded us of how closely we are all interconnected.
The events of the Alamo were heard months, years and sometimes a generation later. The start of the American Revolution:
"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard 'round the world."
rolled out upon the news of the world like a small grass fire creeping into distant shores long after the bodies were buried and the battle lines were drawn. The news of the attack on Pearl Harbor, a date that will live in infamy, spread across the world in days and in hours.
The attack on the Twin Towers was shown on television across the world as it happened. The Lady called me at work just after the first plane hit the first tower. Like many other workers across the world, I had everyone come to where we could hear what was happening on the radio. Millions watched or listened as events unfurled.
All of the advancement in technology over the years and we're still men killing men for the most ridiculous of reasons.
What would happen if we were able to use our advanced technology to avoid violence? To do good without the thought of recognition or reward?
We have killed and have been killed in the name of God; in the name of country, in the name of ideology. For countless generations millions have been slain in battle in the name of freedom.
A pacifist at heart, I too have been moved to do violence. Is it just in our nature to do so? The seven virtues of the Bushido teaches all of the virtues of doing right and never striking in anger. There are times in which I feel that action must be taken. Is action minus the anger still violence?
This Being Human....ponders these things.

Comments

baroness radon said…
I just completed watching "Red Cliff" and "Red CLiff 2", John Woo films with Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro, about a battle from the Three Kingdoms period. Worth finding and watching. In the end, Tony's character (Zhou Yu) says, "There is no victor."

Really, find it, you'll like it.
Anonymous said…
Violence begets violence. Our Teachers are violent. They don't understand that business needs to be done. In the name of God or anyone else's. The priests and the prophets have to survive too. Why drive them out of the temple? Lack of religious tolerance. Hipocrisy in the highest order.

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