Resisting fear and giving thanks

Being a part of the news business we are not sure why we have refused to read or listen to the news of the Paris terrorist attacks and killings. We know these horrific events will not rewind in time as if they never happened. We don’t believe the tragedies and losses will lessen or go away just because we’re not watching.
So, we’re not at all sure why we have kept ourselves in the dark and uninformed about the radical terrorist killings that shocked a city, France, all of Europe and most of the rest of the world.
Could it be we have seen too much of this before, beginning with our own 9/11 and World Trade Center bombings, 14 years ago? Maybe we don’t want to hear the angry and unfocused calls for violent retaliation. Possibly, we are afraid to confront our own feelings over whether to call for revenge or retreat from a world where innocent people are anonymously gunned down in a haze of religious or cultural fanaticism.
We know we don’t want to listen to our fellow Americans call for blockage of innocent Syrian refuges into our country. We feel less insulted by not hearing what the Republican presidential candidates must be saying as they blame President Obama or Hillary Clinton for somehow enabling the attacks.
It’s bad enough having to relive our feelings and thoughts after the 9/11 attacks when the Bush-Cheney regime rushed us to war and invaded Iraq. Worse, we now regret once more that we allowed a Patriot Act to steal our privacy out of fear the terrorists were coming next for us.
Bush and our country declared “war on terror” and that is what we have been living with and fearing ever since. Did our military invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan precipitate more terrorists and radical Islam, anti-West hate? Do we really think a “war on terror” has an ending? Again, without wanting to know too much, why did the Paris attacks happen?
Even from our self-protection mode, we can’t help but dread all the fear mongering and mass hysteria that was the original aim of the terrorists in the first place. The more we cower in blind patriotism, or spew hatred at Muslims, refugees or strangers, the more we abet and encourage the Paris murderers and their kind.
If we refuse to read the news about the Paris attacks and the growing battlegrounds against the Islamic State and other jihadist groups, what other news or events should we follow?
What’s happening here, closer to home? We know we live on a small planet and are part of a global village. With Thanksgiving taking place next week, now is a good time to remind ourselves of where we come from, how we got here and about the values, beliefs and human codes that inform us.
Is it out of place to give thanks and pray for peace in the aftermath of another horrific terrorist attack? Is it possible to embrace the values of brotherhood, tolerance and love while still marching against the ISIS militants?
There are lessons about this to be found in our original celebration of Thanksgiving Day. Religious tolerance, immigrants, racial diversity and a cessation of violence were all part of the original Thanksgiving story.
The Paris attacks may require a military response now, but a lasting peace or repaired security will come from ideas and words, not more guns.
At least since 9/11 and our declared war on terror we have found ourselves living in a more conflicted and fractured world of nations and religions. We live in a world that needs many more than one Thanksgiving Day a year.
Our Thanksgiving prayer this year is that we may make as many new friends as possible from the strangers we find around us. There is no other way to end this war.
— Rollie Atkinson